Scoop on the Script for Better Luck Tomorrow

Justin and Fabian discuss an upcoming scene.
Photo by Alex Marquez.

by Juliet Wong

A combination of a relay and three-legged race on speed, writing the script for BETTER LUCK TOMORROW proved to be a ready challenge for Justin Lin and his cowriters. Like any screenplay, draft after draft is written and scrapped until it's finally right. Writer-director Justin Lin and cowriter Fabian Marquez take a brief moment to look back with Juliet Wong.

JUSTIN: The tone was really hard to get. Ernesto and I worked on the first draft and basically trashed it after that.

FABIAN: When Justin and [producer, cowriter] Ernesto came to me with it, I saw that a lot more character development was needed. We decided to do a page-one rewrite, to start anew with elements of the old draft still included.

JUSTIN: Then I went away to Las Vegas to hash out a third draft. It was at this point that the tone and goal of the script was finally clarified. That helped our collaboration immensely. After coming back and reviewing the draft, I secluded myself in a hotel room in Vegas again and got another [draft] out in four days.

Juliet: Isn't it a bit odd to seek seclusion in Las Vegas, of all places?

JUSTIN: Yeah, it may seem that way. But that was the only place I could be alone to write. What I love is that anytime I needed a break at any hour of day or night, I could go down and see lots of people and energy. Besides that, I think the hotels must pump oxygen into the rooms so that guests will stay up longer.

Juliet: I knew something was up with that. Can you say anything more about the process of collaboration with something as private as writing?

FABIAN: This is really Justin's story. He has the vision and Ernesto and I are helping him realize that vision on the page.

JUSTIN: Collaboration is hard, but I believe you do reap the benefits if it's done well. Once we pinned down the tone, everything else began to fall into place-- jump cuts, the idea of shooting in high-definition, the layers of self-reflexivity. I think the viewers will be conscious that it's a full-length narrative piece when they watch it. I don't intend to suspend belief nor follow any classic Hollywood formula. Now after that fourth draft, we refined the piece even more for better character development. Once we work with the actors, things may change again.

And thus a scriptwriter's work is never done. So come March 2003 don't walk but run to you local independent theatres and check out the results.