‘Fast & Furious’ actor to direct new ‘Initial D’ film – report

A new film based on the famous Japanese comic Initial D is to be directed by Fast & Furious actor Sung Kang, according to a recent interview with newspaper the South China Morning Post.

The Korean-American actor is perhaps best known for his role as Han in the third film of the Fast & Furious franchise, Tokyo Drift – a character that was brought back for subsequent films due to his popularity among fans.

Initial D follows the story of a high-school student who learns the skill of drifting (a controlled slide) by delivering tofu in his father's Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno (sold locally in the 1980s as the Corolla Sprinter), rising to prominence through illegal street racing.

"It’s about cars and drifting and cool things like that," Kang told SCMP.

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"Almost a Rocky or Karate Kid. A fun, big-budget movie that expresses my love affair for cars."

Initial D started life as a comic book – published between 1995 and 2013, with more than 55 million copies in circulation – and has been adapted into both cartoon and live-action television series and films, as well as dozens of video games.

While Tokyo Drift arguably introduced drifting to a worldwide audience, Initial D was often credited with helping to raise the profile of drifting in Japan and contributing to its popularity.

Kang's love of cars was rekindled with Tokyo Drift, leading him to restore a 1973 Datsun 240Z – which he called 'Fugu Z', based on the poisonous but edible Japanese blowfish – with the vehicle eventually ending up as a playable car on the Gran Turismo video game.

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The star also launched a podcast recently with YouTube celebrity and Gran Turismo actor Emelia Hartford, called Car Stories.

Though his character Han became a fan favourite after 2006's Tokyo Drift, the character was originally created for the 2002 film Better Luck Tomorrow – directed by Justin Lin, who also directed Tokyo Drift as well as four subsequent movies in the Fast & Furious franchise.

Initial D will be Kang's third project as a director, following his debut with the 2022 independent comedy-horror film Shaky Shivers, and a forthcoming documentary about growing up in a biracial family in the southern US state of Georgia.