2025 seems to be a big one for car related media. Over the summer, “F1” starring Brad Pitt was so popular it did two cycles in theatres; Peacock released the second season of its hit death derby show “Twisted Metal”; and HBO Max released the first season of “Duster”.
Now, work is underway on a new car movie focused on drifting—and it’s got some pretty big names attached to it.
The movie is tentatively called “Drifter”, and it’s written and directed by Sung Kang of “Fast and Furious” fame. Kang plays the character Han throughout the series but is also well known for being a car enthusiast in real life.
James Pumphrey, formerly of Donut Media; our old pal Rutledge Wood; and Brian Scotto, the co-founder of Hoonigan, are also contributing to the project.
Scotto served as the director of the production’s second unit, which directed most of the stunts for the film. It’s not clear what Rutledge will be doing for the movie but Pumphrey recently confirmed on Spike’s Car Radio he is playing a character named Dusty, the alleged villain of the movie. He also consulted with Kang during the writing phase of the project.
What’s really interesting here is that the movie is filming real drifters doing their thing.
Adam LZ, a Formula Drift driver and popular YouTuber, will be helping with the stunts. A big part of the film was shot at the Legends of Drift event at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey this past August. The two-day event featured a real drift competition and car show, along with meet-n-greets and giveaways with drivers.
That’s about all we know about the film. Some reports indicate that Kang had been working on a racing film since 2023 and it was assumed to be a live-action version of “Initial D” (one of the most famous Japanese manga ever written). In fact, the main car featured in the movie will be a modified Toyota AE86—the same car driven by the main character in “Initial D”. This one looks like it has a wide body kit and a rear spoiler, and some work has been done to the engine.
Also, the Hachi-Roku is red, not the classic white and black the car is most known for.
For now, we’ll have to wait until more details come out about “Drifter”.
In the meantime, check out our list of favorite racing movies of all time. And if you’re not familiar with drift racing, read this article that explains why drifting is becoming one of the fastest growing motorsports today.
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