Justin Lin is in talks with Universal to direct the studio’s long gestating film about the L.A. riots. Spike Lee was attached a few years ago, but he wanted $35 million to make it and Uni didn’t seem too eager to pour that kind of cash into it.

An unnamed talent agent told Vulture:

“They didn’t want to make this movie for $35 million with Spike [Lee] four years ago, and with the way the business has changed, I can’t imagine they’re going to spend even $20 million to make it now.”

Of course, Lee’s last two films didn’t make nearly $1,000,000,000 worldwide for Uni. I’m not even certain Lee’s films combined have made that much cash.

I don’t mean to say box office reflects quality or talent, but a studio does look at a director’s past performances when considering a budget.

What do you think? Would you like to see Justin Lin take a brief respite from the Fast & Furious franchise to tackle a serious topic?

SOURCE: Vulture