The richest actor in Hollywood.

Sitting on one side of the conference table, Justin Lin looked at the four people opposite him. For this director position, he not only meticulously studied the script and the successes and failures of the trilogy series, finding the reasons for the success of the first "Fast & Furious" and the failure of "Tokyo Drift," but also specifically understood the project's power structure and the characteristics of the decision-makers. He knew that for this planned fourth installment, from promotion to decision-making, the one who truly had the deciding power was Matthew Horner.

This was one of the reasons he focused on this project. He felt that with the lessons learned from the failure of "Tokyo Drift," directing a new work with the same theme could avoid many risks, and Matthew Horner's choice of this series fully proved that the "Fast & Furious" series still had great potential to be tapped.

Who didn't know that every project Matthew Horner chose was successful without exception? In the past, he was just an actor, but now he has directly invested tens of millions of dollars, certainly because he had a greater grasp of the potential.

From the moment he got the news and first met Matthew Horner and David Ellison, Justin Lin had been preparing to become the director of the new "Fast & Furious" film and had made the best preparation.

"I know, I messed up 'Tokyo Drift'..." Justin Lin said sincerely to Matthew and the other three people, "The first 'Fast & Furious' was the best in the series, and each subsequent one has been worse than the last. The last 'Tokyo Drift' was a double failure in both reputation and box office."

Matthew crossed his hands on the conference table, looking at Justin Lin opposite him. In other aspects, a director who dared to admit failure might be able to achieve success again.

If a director considered a universally acknowledged failure as a success, such a director would always live in his own world and would not be suitable for making big commercial films of this popular genre.

Justin Lin continued, "After the release of 'Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift,' I heard all the criticisms and was willing to accept them. For someone making this type of film for the first time, I indeed had some problems..."

He paused for a while and then slowly said, "This time, I think the story should be connected with the previous ones, and the audience should be interested in what happened to the protagonists in the previous two installments. Therefore, the story of the fourth 'Fast & Furious' should follow directly after the second one, developing according to the character relationships established in the first two films. I believe fans of the earlier films will find it very familiar."

Bearded Jack suddenly interjected, "Have you read the script? We are planning to kill off Dominic Toretto."

"That's totally fine! I have thought about how to handle it and specifically went to rental stores to ask many fans of this series." Justin Lin had clearly done a lot of preparation, "Dominic Toretto only appeared in the first film, which was six or seven years ago. The audience has long forgotten him. By comparison, Brian O'Conner left a deeper impression on the audience. They don't actually care if Dominic Toretto really returns. They are more concerned about seeing more thrilling car chases and explosive action scenes."

He smiled and added, "So, for this installment, my goal is two words: faster and stronger. At the beginning of this planning, we must first prepare how to make the racing scenes feel faster and more thrilling. We need to design various different racing scenes and repeatedly test their feasibility. Moreover, I want this installment to provide a conclusion to the previous stories; the audience needs an answer."

Matthew kept looking at Justin Lin, feeling that what he said seemed quite reasonable.

"We explain Toretto's fate to the audience, introducing new characters through it. That's the answer." Justin Lin was very clear-headed, "The return of Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster is enough to remind existing fans that this is the 'Fast & Furious' series."

Suddenly, he became particularly serious and solemnly said, "I think I've found the direction for this series. The actors need to be strong and charismatic, the plot needs to be full and solid, and the scenes need to be intense and exciting. A commercial film that achieves these three points won't be bad, and the box office won't be poor either. On the basis of reasonable narration, we need to add more metallic screeches, more shattering glass, more noise, more engine roars, more action scenes, and more sexy girls in tight miniskirts. Speed! Passion! These are the best themes for this series..."

At this point, he showed a slightly self-deprecating smile, "It took the cost of messing up 'Tokyo Drift' to make me realize these problems."

Bearded Jack nodded slightly, clearly agreeing with what Justin Lin said.

David Ellison looked at Matthew, who remained unmoved. These words were indeed compelling, reminding him of the great success of the later films in the series. Unfortunately, the director's name didn't leave an impression on him.

Talking and doing are always two different things. Saying it well doesn't necessarily mean doing it well.

At this time, Justin Lin opened his briefcase, took out a thick stack of documents, placed them on the conference table, and pushed them towards Bearded Jack.

This stack of documents was five or six times thicker than the film script.

Justin Lin continued, "This is the plan I prepared, including fan surveys, ideas for car scenes, and designs for character emotional relationships, among many other things, all of which I did myself over the past few months."

Bearded Jack took the stack of documents, glanced at them, then exchanged looks with Matthew and David Ellison before saying to Justin Lin, "Justin, we'll stop here for today. I'll seriously review your plan and notify you of the result as soon as possible."

"Alright." Justin Lin stood up, "I hope we have the opportunity to work together."

Under the guidance of the staff, he slowly walked out of the conference room.

Inside the conference room, David Ellison was the first to speak, "He spoke very well. Of all the directors we've seen, his ideas align most closely with ours."

Matthew nodded slightly, "Yes, without the failure of 'Tokyo Drift,' he might be very suitable for this series."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Bearded Jack suddenly said, "Some directors can summarize experiences and lessons from previous failures and make appropriate adjustments. From what we just saw, Justin Lin seems to be that kind of person."

Helen Herman interjected, "I'll get in touch with him again."

Matthew understood the implication, "You want to recruit him into Angel Agency?"

Helen Herman didn't deny it, nodding lightly, "We've seen many directors. Justin Lin is the only one who was fully prepared."

David Ellison still had doubts, "But 'Tokyo Drift'..."

This was an unavoidable problem. It was because of "Tokyo Drift" that Universal Pictures terminated the "Fast & Furious" series.

Matthew frowned, thought for a while, and said, "How about this? Let's study Justin Lin's plan first." He looked at Helen Herman, "You keep in touch with him more."

He then said to Bearded Jack, "Jack, conduct a comprehensive assessment of him."

"David," Matthew finally said to David Ellison, "Let's list him as the top candidate for now, shall we?"

"If you think he's okay, then he must be okay." David Ellison had great confidence in Matthew, "You decide on this matter."

The meeting ended there. Although they hadn't finalized the director candidate, they had a real candidate. However, Matthew, being cautious, still needed to conduct a more comprehensive assessment of Justin Lin.

This involved his investment of tens of millions of dollars. If he wasn't cautious, he'd end up losing money.

When it came to losing money, not only he, who had accumulated some wealth with great difficulty, but even a true super-rich second generation like David Ellison didn't want it to happen.

Helen Herman left Sky Dance Pictures first, likely to contact Justin Lin soon.

Bearded Jack asked someone to make copies of Justin Lin's plan, preparing to give one to Matthew and another to David Ellison.

Matthew didn't leave. He was waiting for the copy from Bearded Jack, and he also had something to discuss with David Ellison.

They went to David Ellison's office. After a murmured conversation, David Ellison was so excited his eyebrows almost flew off.

"You must include me in this! If you forget me in such a fun thing, I'll be mad at you!" David Ellison rubbed his hands together, "Matthew, fewer and fewer things excite me now. Tricking a Hollywood superstar into bankruptcy sounds interesting."

Matthew gestured to David Ellison, "Don't let this spread; it won't be effective if it leaks."

David Ellison smiled, "Don't worry. We dug a small one before; now we'll dig a big one together." He suddenly frowned, "Are you sure that project won't succeed? If the other side profits from it, we'll be a joke."

"I'm eighty to ninety percent confident." Matthew deliberately put on a confident look and made up a reason, "I've talked deeply with Andrew Stanton many times. He's an excellent animation film master, but trying to apply the same principles to live-action films is completely different!"

Because of the super success of "300 Spartans," David Ellison trusted Matthew very much, "I understand. Just like last time, I'll cooperate with you."

At this point, Bearded Jack brought the copies. Matthew didn't leave immediately but huddled with David Ellison to discuss many details of the implementation. In some ways, they were indeed

 like-minded.

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