---
name: "Justin Lin"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/justin-lin"
fi1m_id: "justin-lin"
imdb_id: "nm0510912"
tmdb_id: 58189
wikidata_id: "Q551876"
roles: ["Director","Producer","Writer"]
born: "11 October 1971"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 8
average_fi1m_score: 70
average_as: "director"
average_over: 7
updated: "2026-10-05T15:50:48.207282+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Justin Lin

## Identity

Justin Lin

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/justin-lin
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** justin-lin
- **IMDb ID:** nm0510912
- **TMDB ID:** 58189
- **Wikidata ID:** Q551876
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Lin, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q551876, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0510912/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/58189

Director and producer. Born 11 October 1971 in Taipei, Taiwan.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer, Writer
- **Born:** 11 October 1971, Taipei, Taiwan
- **Active:** 2009–present
- **Also known as:** Yipin Lin
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 8: 7 directing, 1 writing
- **Frequently works with:** [Neal H. Moritz](https://film.one/person/neal-h-moritz.md), [Vin Diesel](https://film.one/person/vin-diesel.md), [Michelle Rodriguez](https://film.one/person/michelle-rodriguez.md), [Chris Morgan](https://film.one/person/chris-morgan.md), [Jordana Brewster](https://film.one/person/jordana-brewster.md), [Ludacris](https://film.one/person/ludacris.md), [Paul Walker](https://film.one/person/paul-walker-8167.md), [Tyrese Gibson](https://film.one/person/tyrese-gibson.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 70, as director, over 7 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 68 (2), 2010s 73 (4), 2020s 61 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 70 to 67 across 7 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Action 5, Crime 4, Thriller 3, Adventure 2, Comedy 1, Drama 1
- **Screen time:** 11 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $2,848m across 5 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Lin, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q551876, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0510912/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/58189

## Coming up

- *Helldivers* (2027-11-10), Director

## Streaming the US now

- **Netflix:** [*Fast Five*](https://film.one/film/fast-five.md) (72), [*Fast & Furious 6*](https://film.one/film/fast-and-furious-6.md) (70), [*Fast & Furious*](https://film.one/film/fast-and-furious.md) (54)
- **Peacock:** [*F9*](https://film.one/film/f9.md) (64), [*Fast X*](https://film.one/film/fast-x.md) (58)
- **Hulu:** [*Community*](https://film.one/tv/community.md) (83)
- **HBO Max:** [*True Detective*](https://film.one/tv/true-detective.md) (80)
- **Apple TV:** [*Star Trek Beyond*](https://film.one/film/star-trek-beyond.md) (70)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Justin Lin

> Justin Lin makes big films in which you can always tell where everybody is. He gave the *Fast & Furious* series its scope and its best entry; the stories have always been his weaker hand.

Watch a Justin Lin action sequence and you will know, at every moment, where the cars are, where the people are and how far the fall is. That sounds like a low bar. It is not; most directors of expensive films clear it rarely and cut fast to hide the fact. Lin builds a set piece so that a street or a room has a map in your head before anyone runs across it, and then he runs them across it.

He started small, with *Better Luck Tomorrow* (2002), an independent film about Asian American students, and went to the studios with *Annapolis* and *The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift*, both in 2006. *Tokyo Drift* took a series about street racers abroad, and Lin stayed for four more entries between 2009 and 2013, then made *Star Trek Beyond* (2016) before coming back for *F9* (2021). He co-wrote *Fast X* (2023) and stepped back from directing it early in production. He has since returned to independent features, among them *Last Days*.

The Fast films are where his habits show clearest, and *Fast Five* (2011) is the one we would send you to. Lin had one heist and one city, Rio, and let Vin Diesel, Sung Kang and the rest knock about together for two hours; the safe dragged through the streets is the image the later films keep quoting, and it works because we could follow it. Kang and Diesel have each made five films with him, and he directs an ensemble the way he directs a chase, with everybody accounted for. *Fast X* raids that film for its villain and its safe, then scatters the family across separate continents, and Dan Mazeau and Lin's script never gets them back in a room. We walked out feeling we had seen a first half. Louis Leterrier directed it; the script Lin co-wrote is what fails it.

The best proof that the gift is his and not the budget's is a half hour of television. In *Community*'s paintball episode, *Modern Warfare*, Lin turns a sitcom cafeteria and its corridors into a John Woo film, with Gary Hatfield lighting the flat, bright set as if it had never held a joke and Ludwig Göransson scoring it straight. We laughed at it, and then noticed we were following the geography of a cafeteria as closely as we would a bank vault. That is the whole trick, and he does not need a car to do it.

Story is where he is weaker. *Annapolis* was found thin by most critics, and on the evidence of *Fast X* the plotting is not what he should be writing. His films are better when someone else has decided what happens and he has decided where everyone stands. We shall see whether the smaller films he has gone back to give him rooms worth mapping; a director who can make a cafeteria feel like a war zone should not have trouble with a house.

## Biography

Justin Lin, also credited as Yipin Lin, is a Taiwanese-American film and television director, producer and screenwriter. He was born in Taipei, Taiwan, on 11 October 1971 and studied film at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Lin directed episodes of the series *Community* (2009) and *True Detective* (2014). He wrote the story and screenplay for, and produced, *Fast X* (2023). He is also known for directing several entries in the *Fast & Furious* franchise, including *The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift* (2006), *Fast & Furious* (2009), *Fast Five* (2011), *Fast & Furious 6* (2013) and *F9* (2021), as well as *Star Trek Beyond* (2016).

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, themoviedb.org.*

## On Fi1m (8)

### Directed (7) — the average rests on these

- *F9* (2021), Fi1m 64, Director, Screenplay, Producer, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/f9.md)
- *Star Trek Beyond* (2016), Fi1m 70, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/star-trek-beyond.md)
- *True Detective* (2014), Fi1m 80, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/true-detective.md)
- *Fast & Furious 6* (2013), Fi1m 70, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/fast-and-furious-6.md)
- *Fast Five* (2011), Fi1m 72, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/fast-five.md)
- *Community* (2009), Fi1m 83, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/community.md)
- *Fast & Furious* (2009), Fi1m 54, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/fast-and-furious.md)

### Wrote (1)

- *Fast X* (2023), Fi1m 58, Producer, Screenplay, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/fast-x.md)

## Complete filmography (33)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Helldivers* (2027), Director, Producer
- *Last Days* (2025), Director, Producer
- *Fast X* (2023), Producer, Screenplay, Story — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/fast-x.md)
- *The Endgame* (2022), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *Space Jam: A New Legacy* (2021), Executive Producer
- *F9* (2021), Story, Screenplay, Director, Producer — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/f9.md)
- *Warrior* (2019), series, Executive Producer
- *Magnum P.I.* (2018), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *S.W.A.T.* (2017), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *Star Trek Beyond* (2016), Director, Producer — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/star-trek-beyond.md)
- *Hollywood Adventures* (2015), Story
- *Scorpion* (2014), series, Director
- *Help* (2014), Director
- *True Detective* (2014), series, Director — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/true-detective.md)
- *Fast & Furious 6* (2013), Director — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/fast-and-furious-6.md)
- *Vesuvius* (2012), Executive Producer
- *Bad Butt* (2012), Executive Producer
- *Grave Torture* (2012), Executive Producer
- *Fast Five* (2011), Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/fast-five.md)
- *Community* (2009), series, Director — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/community.md)
- *Fast & Furious* (2009), Director — Fi1m 54, [page](https://film.one/film/fast-and-furious.md)
- *Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee* (2007), Producer, Director, Writer
- *La Revolución de Iguodala!* (2007), Director, Writer, Producer
- *The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift* (2006), Director
- *Annapolis* (2006), Director
- *Masters of the Pillow* (2003), Actor
- *Better Luck Tomorrow* (2003), as Jock (Uncredited) · Director, Writer, Editor, Producer
- *Crossover* (2000), Director
- *Shopping for Fangs* (1997), Editor, Writer, Director
- *Stakehorse*, Producer, Director
- *BRZRKR*, Director, Producer
- *Moonshadow*, Producer
- *That Man from Rio*, Director, Producer

## Gallery

- ![Justin Lin](https://film.one/media/person/18178/gallery-fc30c26b013b.jpg) Justin Lin — Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Justin_Lin.jpg/1280px-Justin_Lin.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![スター・トレック BEYOND ジャパン・プレミア レッドカーペット J・J・エイブラムス サイモン・ペッグ ジャスティン・リン 前田敦子 (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/18178/gallery-43c18927d616.jpg) スター・トレック BEYOND ジャパン・プレミア レッドカーペット J・J・エイブラムス サイモン・ペッグ ジャスティン・リン 前田敦子 (2016) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Star_Trek_Beyond_Japan_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_J._J._Abrams%2C_Simon_Pegg%2C_Justin_Lin_%26_Maeda_Atsuko_%2831318041424%29.jpg/1280px-Star_Trek_Beyond_Japan_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_J._J._Abrams%2C_Simon_Pegg%2C_Justin_Lin_%26_Maeda_Atsuko_%2831318041424%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![スター・トレック BEYOND ジャパン・プレミア レッドカーペット J・J・エイブラムス サイモン・ペッグ ジャスティン・リン 前田敦子 (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/18178/gallery-13e50dff0e7f.jpg) スター・トレック BEYOND ジャパン・プレミア レッドカーペット J・J・エイブラムス サイモン・ペッグ ジャスティン・リン 前田敦子 (2016) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Star_Trek_Beyond_Japan_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_J._J._Abrams%2C_Simon_Pegg%2C_Justin_Lin_%26_Maeda_Atsuko_%2831318219134%29.jpg/1280px-Star_Trek_Beyond_Japan_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_J._J._Abrams%2C_Simon_Pegg%2C_Justin_Lin_%26_Maeda_Atsuko_%2831318219134%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![スター・トレック BEYOND ジャパン・プレミア レッドカーペット J・J・エイブラムス サイモン・ペッグ ジャスティン・リン 前田敦子 (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/18178/gallery-23b99dea16af.jpg) スター・トレック BEYOND ジャパン・プレミア レッドカーペット J・J・エイブラムス サイモン・ペッグ ジャスティン・リン 前田敦子 (2016) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Star_Trek_Beyond_Japan_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_J._J._Abrams%2C_Simon_Pegg%2C_Justin_Lin_%26_Maeda_Atsuko_%2831318220674%29.jpg/1280px-Star_Trek_Beyond_Japan_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_J._J._Abrams%2C_Simon_Pegg%2C_Justin_Lin_%26_Maeda_Atsuko_%2831318220674%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Justin Lin](https://film.one/media/person/18178/gallery-59ab95a7fd87.jpg) Justin Lin — Image via TMDB
- ![Justin Lin](https://film.one/media/person/18178/gallery-f09afa524ab9.jpg) Justin Lin — Image via TMDB
- ![スター・トレック BEYOND ジャパン・プレミア レッドカーペット J・J・エイブラムス サイモン・ペッグ ジャスティン・リン 前田敦子 (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/18178/gallery-42c9424026fb.jpg) スター・トレック BEYOND ジャパン・プレミア レッドカーペット J・J・エイブラムス サイモン・ペッグ ジャスティン・リン 前田敦子 (2016) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Star_Trek_Beyond_Japan_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_J._J._Abrams%2C_Simon_Pegg%2C_Justin_Lin_%26_Maeda_Atsuko_%2832041428851%29.jpg/1280px-Star_Trek_Beyond_Japan_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_J._J._Abrams%2C_Simon_Pegg%2C_Justin_Lin_%26_Maeda_Atsuko_%2832041428851%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![スター・トレック BEYOND ジャパン・プレミア レッドカーペット J・J・エイブラムス サイモン・ペッグ ジャスティン・リン 前田敦子 (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/18178/gallery-44b587598147.jpg) スター・トレック BEYOND ジャパン・プレミア レッドカーペット J・J・エイブラムス サイモン・ペッグ ジャスティン・リン 前田敦子 (2016) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Star_Trek_Beyond_Japan_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_J._J._Abrams%2C_Simon_Pegg%2C_Justin_Lin_%26_Maeda_Atsuko_%2832121332266%29.jpg/1280px-Star_Trek_Beyond_Japan_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_J._J._Abrams%2C_Simon_Pegg%2C_Justin_Lin_%26_Maeda_Atsuko_%2832121332266%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/justin-lin