Justin Lin to Direct Rodney King Movie, L.A. RIOTS
Fast Five director Justin Lin is currently in negotiations with Universal Pictures to direct a feature film retelling of Rodney King and the L.A. riots. The movie will be called L.A. Riots and it's being produced by Imagine Entertainment's Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.
The L.A. riots happened over 20 years ago, and I remember it just like yesterday. I remember watching what was going on in the street on TV then going outside and looking over at the city and seeing smoke rising from it. It was pretty scary. The riots ignited after the four LAPD officers charged with beating Rodney King were acquitted. 53 people were killed, 2,000 were injured, and there was over $1 billion dollars in property damage.
There's no doubt this story will make for a good and intense movie. I'm actually interested to see how Lin handles this crazy event in history. Do you think Lin has what it takes to turn this into a great movie?
About six years ago Spike Lee was set to direct the film from a script written by Red Tails screenwriter John Ridley, but that fell through. No word on if Lin will end up using that same script.