Fast & Furious Would’ve Been A Very Different Franchise If This 19-Year-Old Movie Hadn’t Flopped

Fast & Furious Would’ve Been A Very Different Franchise If This 19-Year-Old Movie Hadn’t Flopped


The flop of one of the earlier movies in the Fast & Furious franchise led to the series completely changing course, and eventually turning into an action series. 2001’s The Fast and the Furious was the first film in the long-running franchise, and was a grounded story about an undercover police officer who joined a group of street racers. At its core, the Fast & Furious franchise has always been about street racing, and the first few films in the series showcased this. However, it didn’t take long for the Fast & Furious movies to become increasingly more action-packed.

2 Fast 2 Furious showed hints of the over-the-top action the franchise was capable of, but it was 2009’s Fast & Furious, the fourth film in the series, that truly transformed the franchise from a series about street racing to pure action movies. The direction that Fast & Furious took was a result of the flop of the third movie in the franchise, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. The series’ third movie was a spinoff film that flopped both critically and commercially. After the failure of Tokyo Drift, the Fast & Furious franchise changed dramatically.

Tokyo Drift’s Flop Caused Fast & Furious To Course Correct After 2 Failed Sequels

Tokyo Drift Was A Spinoff Movie That Didn’t Perform Well

The first Fast & Furious movie was about the relationship between Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner. However, the second film in the series only focused on Brian, since Diesel did not return for the sequel. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift then focused on neither Brian nor Dom, and instead followed a new character, Sean Boswell. Ultimately, Tokyo Drift flopped at the box office, only making $157,794,205 on a budget of $85 million (via The Numbers).

Every Fast & Furious Movie

Worldwide Box Office

RT Critics Score

The Fast and the Furious (2001)

$206,458,372

55%

2 Fast 2 Furious (2006)

$236,410,607

37%

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

$157,794,205

38%

Fast & Furious (2009)

$359,347,833

29%

Fast Five (2011)

$629,975,898

78%

Fast and Furious 6 (2013)

$789,300,444

71%

Furious 7 (2015)

$1,511,986,364

82%

The Fate of the Furious (2017)

$1,235,534,014

67%

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

$760,732,926

67%

F9: The Fast Saga (2021)

$719,360,068

59%

Fast X (2023)

$714,375,114

56%

Furthermore, Tokyo Drift did not receive many strong reviews. The film has an underwhelming score of 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the lowest-rated entries in the series (via Rotten Tomatoes). While 2 Fast 2 Furious performed slightly better than Tokyo Drift at the box office, it did not do that well. This essentially meant that the two movies following the first Fast & Furious film were failures. Therefore, since neither 2 Fast 2 Furious nor Tokyo Drift performed that well with fans or critics, the franchise had to change course for the fourth film in the series.

Bringing Vin Diesel & Paul Walker Back Was The Only Option Left For Fast & Furious

Diesel & Walker’s Returns Were Welcome After Tokyo Drift

Luckily, the ending of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift included the return of Vin Diesel. Even though Diesel only had a brief cameo at the very end of Tokyo Drift, he was set to star in the franchise’s fourth film. Therefore, after Tokyo Drift flopped at the box office, it made the most sense to return to the series’ roots and focus the fourth film’s story on Dom and Brian.

Related


Fast & Furious’ Best Duo Was Better Than Brian & Dom But Was Sadly Wasted By The Franchise

Fast & Furious had plenty of great pairings over the years, but the franchise’s best duo barely got a chance to shine despite their chemistry.

Dom and Brian were the most intriguing characters in the Fast & Furious franchise, and their return led the series’ fourth film to be a financial success. 2009’s Fast & Furious made $359,347,833 at the worldwide box office, significantly more than the three films that came before it. The success of Fast & Furious made it clear that Diesel and Walker needed to be the main stars of the franchise moving forward, and laid the groundwork for it to become one of the most action-packed series in Hollywood.

Fast & Furious Would’ve Been A Lot Different Had Tokyo Drift Performed Well

The Fast & Furious Franchise Evolved After Tokyo Drift

Ever since the success of the fourth film in the series, every Fast & Furious movie has been focused on Dom’s crew. Over the course of several films, the main characters in the Fast & Furious franchise have evolved from a group of criminals to a crew trusted with taking down some of the most dangerous people in the world. Therefore, the plots of subsequent Fast & Furious films have continuously been more outrageous, and the movies have become more action-packed.

Tokyo Drift’s success could have led to more standalone films in the series, which may have taken the focus away from Dom and his crew.

If Tokyo Drift had performed well at the box office, it’s possible that the Fast & Furious franchise would look completely different today. Tokyo Drift’s success could have led to more standalone films in the series, which may have taken the focus away from Dom and his crew. Furthermore, it’s possible that the franchise wouldn’t have evolved into an over-the-top action series if Tokyo Drift performed well at the box office. Therefore, it is clear that the underwhelming performance of Tokyo Drift completely changed the Fast & Furious franchise forever.

Sources: The Numbers, Rotten Tomatoes

Share your love

Related Posts