Editing Better Luck Tomorrow (section)

{{Short description|2002 film by Justin Lin}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Better Luck Tomorrow
| image          = Better luck tomorrow poster001.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| alt            =
| director       = [[Justin Lin]]
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
* Justin Lin
* Julie Asato
* Ernesto Foronda}}
| writer         = {{Plainlist|
* Ernesto Foronda
* Justin Lin
* Fabian Marquez}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Parry Shen]]
* [[Jason Tobin]]
* [[Sung Kang]]
* [[Roger Fan]]
* [[John Cho]]
* [[Karin Anna Cheung]]}}
| music          = {{Plainlist|
* Michael Gonzales
* Tobin Mori}}
| cinematography = Patrice Lucien Cochet
| editing        = Justin Lin
| studio         = {{Plainlist|
* Hudson River Entertainment
* Cherry Sky Films
* Day O Productions
* Trailing Johnson Productions}}
| distributor    = [[Paramount Pictures]]<br>[[MTV Entertainment Studios|MTV Films]]
| released       = {{Film date|2002|01|12|Sundance|2003|04|11|United States}}
| runtime        = 95 minutes<ref>{{cite web|work= [[British Board of Film Classification]]|title=Better Luck Tomorrow|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/better-luck-tomorrow-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmzqxota|access-date=20 April 2024}}</ref>
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $250,000<ref name="BOM">{{cite web |work= [[Box Office Mojo]] |title= Better Luck Tomorrow |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=betterlucktomorrow.htm }}</ref>
| gross          = $3.8 million<ref name="BOM" />
}}
'''''Better Luck Tomorrow''''' is a 2002 American [[independent film|independent]] [[crime drama]] film directed by [[Justin Lin]]. The film is about [[Asian Americans|Asian American]] overachievers who become bored with their lives and enter a world of petty crime and material excess. ''Better Luck Tomorrow''{{'}}s cast include [[Parry Shen]], [[Jason Tobin]], [[Sung Kang]], [[Roger Fan]], and [[John Cho]]. The film was based loosely on the [[murder of Stuart Tay]], a teenager from [[Orange County, California|Orange County]], [[California]], by four Sunny Hills High School honor students on December 31, 1992.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yi |first=Daniel |date=April 6, 2003 |title=They're the bad seeds? |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=http://www.betterlucktomorrow.com/article.php?id=32 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 18, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060321193117/http://www.betterlucktomorrow.com/article.php?id=32 |archive-date=March 21, 2006}}</ref>

Crucial funding for the film came from [[MC Hammer]], whom Lin had met in April 2001 at the [[National Association of Broadcasters]] convention in [[Las Vegas]], Nevada.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lin |first=Lynda |date=2003-04-10 |title=Movie Review: "Better Luck Tomorrow" breaks stereotypes |url=http://www.betterlucktomorrow.com/article.php?id=38 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050729081156/http://www.betterlucktomorrow.com/article.php?id=38 |archive-date=2005-07-29 |access-date=December 26, 2021 |website=AsiansInAmerica.org}}</ref> "Out of desperation, I called up MC Hammer because he had read the script and liked it. Two hours later, he wired the money we needed into a bank account and saved us," Lin said.<ref>{{cite web |date=2003-05-09 |title=New movie displays original view of Asian American films |url=http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2003/05/09/8198/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614221536/http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2003/05/09/8198/ |archive-date=2011-06-14 |access-date=2010-11-16 |website=[[The Daily Princetonian]]}}</ref> MC Hammer is credited as a producer of the film.<ref>{{cite web |title=MC Hammer Biography |url=http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/MC-Hammer-Biography/4E0F2063AA089C6748256E0700170A6C |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715115902/http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/MC-Hammer-Biography/4E0F2063AA089C6748256E0700170A6C |archive-date=2012-07-15 |access-date=2010-11-16 |website=Sing365.com}}</ref> 

''Better Luck Tomorrow'' debuted at the 2002 [[Sundance Film Festival]], and was subsequently acquired by [[MTV Films]], its first acquisition. MTV Films worked with [[Paramount Pictures]] to release the film theatrically in the United States on April 11, 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blackfilm.com/20030411/reviews/betterlucktomorrow.shtml|title=better luck tomorrow|work=Blackfilm.com|first=Wilson|last=Morales|access-date=July 12, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Hill |first=Logan |date=May 19, 2016 |title=Meet Justin Lin, the Most Important Blockbuster Director You've Never Heard Of |language=en-US |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/05/justin-lin-star-trek-beyond/ |access-date=2022-04-07 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> Serving as the origin story for [[Han Lue]], the film is part of the Fast and Furious movie series.