Han Lives! Sung Kang Returns in 'Fast & Furious 9'

Things to Know From Angry Asian America



'Fast & Furious 9' Trailer: Sung Kang on Justice For Han
Justice for Han! The new trailer has dropped for Fast & Furious 9, the latest installment in what is now officially being referred to as "The Fast Saga," and holy shit, it is on. Not only has Justin Lin returned to the director's chair, F9 gives us the shocking return of Sung Kang as fan-favorite character Han. To everyone's apparent surprise, Han did not die in a fiery wreck on the streets of Tokyo, but was apparently just chilling and sitting out the franchise for two movies. He is alive and in good health. And let's be honest: Han's resurrection is nowhere close to the craziest thing to happen in this franchise, or even in this trailer. Watch it here.

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Could this be the chink in Trump’s armour?
This is an actual headline regarding Andrew Yang's run for president. There's a disclaimer at the end of the piece explaining that author, columnist June H.L. Wong, is well aware of the term "chink" and its derogatory associations, even in the context of this specific idiom. Basically, she knows that the headline can and will offend, and is okay with it, in an attempt to "own" the word. Its placement is deliberate. And I am tired.

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Census 2020 & Beyond: New AAPI Mapping Tool
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest-growing racial group in the country, yet apparently are the least familiar with the U.S. Census, and are the most reluctant to participate. Ensuring a complete count among AAPIs is crucial, which is why AAPI Data has launched a new research tool showing census-tract level maps for the 20 largest AAPI metro areas. The hope is to help journalists, decision-makers, and community organizations better understand the diversity and geographic settlement patterns of AAPIs.

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'Kung Fu' Reboot Gets Pilot Pickup from CW
The CW has ordered a pilot for Kung Fu, a reboot of the cult 1970s martial arts western. You may remember that show starred David Carradine, who is very much not Asian at all. This time around, the show is a contemporary take that centers on a Chinese American woman, with Christina M. Kim attached to write and executive produce. According to Variety, "a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice, all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her." Let us hope for the best.

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Constance Wu Stars in the Sci-Fi Short Nine Minutes
Constance Wu stars as an marooned space explorer in the sci-fi short Nine Minutes, written and directed by Ernie Gilbert. In the near future, an experienced astronaut, Lilian, and her A.I. explore a newly discovered planet. After weeks of research, a malfunction during the return launch forces Lilian to choose between survival and completing the mission. Watch the 12-minute film here.

Justin Lin is returning to 'Fast & Furious'

Franchise "architect" is in "advanced talks" to direct ninth and tenth installments.



Whaaaaat. Justin Lin, the director responsible for turning the Fast & Furious movies into a legit international blockbuster mega-franchise, is reportedly ready to return to helm the ninth and tenth films in the series.

Justin Lin to Return for Next Two 'Fast & Furious' Films, Says Vin Diesel

This week during a Facebook Live broadcast from the set of Fast 9, franchise star Vin Diesel revealed that he was working with Lin. Describing him as the "architect" of the auto action series, Diesel announced that the director, along with star Jordana Brewster, will be returning for what will likely be the final two installments.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Lin is in "advanced talks" to get back in the director's chair.

10th Anniversary Screening: Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Thursday, February 4 at the Japanese American National Museum.



Los Angeles movie fans, mark your calendars. Next month, the Big Trouble in Little Tokyo film series presents a special 10th anniversary screening of 2006's The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, followed by a discussion with the cast and crew. Revisit the film expanded the Fast universe and brought Justin Lin to the blockbuster franchise. It's happening Thursday, February 4 at the Japanese American National Museum.

Here are some more details:

Sung Kang gets behind the wheel again in 'Z Dream'

Five-part docu-series chronicles 'Fast & Furious' star's restoration of a classic Nissan 240Z.



Sung Kang, the super-cool star of several mega-successful Fast & Furious movies, gets behind the wheel again. Only this time, he's building his dream car. Fox Sports' new five-part documentary webseries Z Dream follows Sung as he goes through the process of restoring a classic Nissan 240Z. The car, known as "FuguZ," will debut at the 2015 SEMA auto show next month in Las Vegas.

In the premiere episode, Sung shares why he was motivated to pursue this unique passion project, and how he connected with friends and specialists to build the car. He says that he was inspired, in part, by the tragic, untimely death of his Fast & Furious co-star Paul Walker -- who was also an avid auto enthusiast.

"I realized after he passed away that life is too short," Sung says. "You've got to just go after it."

Check it out:

Fast & Furious 6 Blu-ray/DVD Extended Edition

The biggest and baddest installment of the auto action franchise, directed by Justin Lin

If you had told me in 2001, upon release of The Fast and the Furious, that they would eventually go on to make six of these freaking movies, I would have told you to get the eff out of my car. But indeed, they've not only made six, but they've turned Fast & Furious into an international blockbuster franchise -- and arguably getting better with each film -- helmed by one of Hollywood's most successful Asian American directors. Whaaat.

You've come a long way, Justin Lin. Fast & Furious 6 marks a closing chapter for his run with the series, after successfully weaving together the seemingly disparate character/story threads from the first three movies, spinning a movie mythology and managing a bulging ensemble while continually upping the action ante. Yes, this is a big, loud movie, but it delivers in all the ways that count.

The movie also closes the loop for fan favorite Sung Kang as Han, who [SPOILER, like seven years ago, bro] meets his fate in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift -- the third movie in the franchise, but chronologically, the bookend to the series so far. Hats off to one of the coolest Asian American movie characters ever.

Fast & Furious is now available on Blu-ray, DVD, VOD and Digital Download. Here's the trailer again:

Tony Jaa joins the cast of Fast & Furious 7

Fast 7 will be the Ong Bak star's English-language Hollywood debut.



The next Fast & Furious flick just added some fast and furious star power to its roster. Thai action star Tony Jaa will make his big studio English-language debut in the seventh installment of Universal's blockbuster auto action movie franchise: Asian Star Tony Jaa Joins 'Fast and Furious 7.'

Jaa, best known for kicking copious amounts of ass in the Ong Bak movies, joins the bulging cast that includes Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson. No details on Jaa's character, but I'm sure it will involve a great deal of punching and kicking. And if we're lucky, maybe an elephant or something.

YOMYOMF presents The Unsung Heroes of Fast & Furious

For fans of the Fast & Furious movies, here's a really cool bit of behind-the-scenes footage... In this YOMYOMF video, presented in celebration of YouTube's Geek Week, director Justin Lin pays tribute to the previz artists from the last four Fast films. If you know these crazy action sequences, it's pretty interesting to see how they were planned out on a computer long before any of it was committed to films. Check it out:

Fast & Furious 6 races away with biggest Memorial Day weekend box office ever

Boom. A big fat congratulations to Justin Lin and the Fast & Furious crew. The holiday weekend ain't over yet, and the totals are still coming in, but the sixth installment of the auto action series celebrated the biggest Memorial Day weekend box office opening ever, raking in a well-deserved crap-ton of summer blockbuster money: Box Office Report: 'Fast 6' Earns $122 Million-Plus, Runs 'Hangover III' Off Course.

The guy behind the fastest and furiousest movie of the summer

Here's a cool NPR interview with Fast & Furious 6 director Justin Lin, who talks about his journey from making no-budget indie films to getting behind the wheel of the biggest, loudest, furiousest blockbuster of the summer: Director Justin Lin Shifts The Identity Of 'Fast & Furious.'

Back when Justin inherited what was left of the franchise with Tokyo Drift, who would have thought he'd be responsible for reviving the series and turning it into an international multi-movie box office smash? And somewhere in there, he was able to sneak in some interesting explorations of race, culture and family:

Funny, considering he initially turned down the Tokyo Drift gig:

If you're not sufficiently pumped for Fast & Furious 6...

Are you ready for Fast & Furious 6? Here is the final theatrical trailer for Justin Lin's latest summer blockbuster, which features all kinds shootouts, vehicular warfare and muscly dudes with mean stares. There's a lot of stuff you've already seen in previous trailers, but also a few money action shots that'll have you shaking your head. It wouldn't be a Fast & Furious flick if the auto action didn't defy the laws of physics. Check it out:

Saw director James Wan to take on Fast & Furious 7

By now, fans of the Fast & Furious movies know that Justin Lin will not be directing the seventh installment. So who's taking over? Universal Pictures is reportedly in talks with James Wan, director of Saw, to direct Fast & Furious 7: James Wan Is Universal's Choice To Helm 'The Fast And The Furious 7.'

According to Deadline, the studio will likely ink the deal by the end of the week. Should be interesting to see how Wan, who directed the original Saw and the horror hit Insidious, handles the signature auto action these movies are known for. He certainly knows how to make modest budgets go a long way.

He's an intriguing choice for the Fast franchise. Whatever the case, he appears to have the endorsement of Justin Lin. Here's the press release-y statement from Justin:

Justin Lin is not directing Fast & Furious 7

For fans of the Fast & Furious movie series... The good news is, Universal is already working on a seventh installment of the popular auto action franchise. The bad news: director Justin Lin, veteran of four Fast films, will not be sitting behind the driver's seat: Justin Lin Won't Direct 'Fast & Furious 7.'

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal has the crazy idea of getting Fast 7 ready for release in summer 2014. Justin, who is still hard at work getting Fast & Furious 6 finished for its May 24 release, just can't get down with the studio's accelerated timetable, which would require him to get started right now:

Planes, tanks and automobiles: first look at Fast & Furious 6

The best commercial that ran during the Super Bowl XLVII? Fast & Furious 6, of course. We got our first look at the highly anticipated sixth(!) installment of the blockbuster auto-action series, directed by our old friend Justin Lin. Call me biased, but any trailer that features a speeding car bursting out of a speeding airplane hull is all right by me. And there's more where that came from. Take a look: