Development Main films In 2000, actor
Paul Walker had worked with director
Rob Cohen on
The Skulls. Cohen secured a deal with producer
Neal H. Moritz for an untitled action film for
Universal Pictures, and approached Walker and asked him to suggest his "dream" action film; Walker suggested a mash-up of the films
Days of Thunder (1990) and
Donnie Brasco (1997). Soon thereafter, Cohen and Moritz brought him the
Vibe magazine article "Racer X" by Ken Li, published in May 1998, which detailed underground street racing operating in New York City, and suggested a story set to follow Walker as an undercover cop tasked with infiltrating the world of underground street racing in
Los Angeles inspired by the article. Upon release in June 2001, the film shattered box office expectations and a sequel was green-lit. After failing to secure the returns of Walker or any other member of the original cast, Universal ordered a stand-alone film of the franchise. Screenwriter
Chris Morgan subsequently attempted to revive the series primarily for car enthusiasts, introducing new characters, focusing on a car-related subculture and moving the series to Tokyo; Japan contains one of the world's
largest automotive industries. It is the first film in the series to start its tradition of filming in locations outside the United States. Impressed by his work on
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002), which shared similar elements with
Tokyo Drift, Moritz hired director
Justin Lin. The third film marked the first appearance in the
Fast & Furious franchise of
Han Lue, portrayed by
Sung Kang, a character who originated from Lin's
Better Luck Tomorrow. Although the relation between
Better Luck Tomorrow and
Fast & Furious was originally left unaddressed, both Lin and Kang repeatedly confirmed during the following years that it was the same character, and that
Better Luck Tomorrow doubled as Han's
origin story,
retroactively making the film part of the
Fast & Furious continuity. Moreover, with
Tokyo Drift, the series was able to bring Diesel in for a cameo appearance, in exchange for letting the actor's production company acquire the rights to the
Riddick character. The third film was the least financially successful of the franchise, received lukewarm reception and left the future of the franchise in limbo. Away from the franchise, Diesel made a string of box office or critical flops, including
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004),
The Pacifier (2005) and
Find Me Guilty (2006), but his cameo in
Tokyo Drift generated interest in reviving the series. In late 2011, the
Los Angeles Times reported that Universal was approaching the sixth and seventh installment with a single storyline running through both films, with Morgan envisaging themes of freedom and family, but later shifted to account for the studio's wishes to incorporate elements of
espionage. Lin revealed that he had, after discussions with Diesel, storyboarded,
previsualized and began editing a twelve-minute finale for
Fast & Furious 6, before filming was completed on
Fast Five. Upon release, the sixth film became the highest-grossing film in the series, grossing $788 million worldwide. Universal lacked a major event film for 2014 and rushed the seventh film into pre-production in mid-2013 due to its status as a bankable asset. Lin decided not to return to direct the seventh film, as he was still performing post-production on
Fast & Furious 6.
James Wan, primarily known for horror films, took over directorial duties. In November 2013, Walker died in a car crash, and the seventh film was delayed to 2015 that December. His brothers Caleb and
Cody were hired as stand-ins to recreate Walker's likeness using CGI, reworking his
character arc as "retired".
Furious 7 (2015) was released to critical and commercial success as the
third-highest-grossing film of 2015. Universal unveiled plans for three sequels to
Furious 7 in November 2014. The toll of multiple re-shoots dissuaded Wan from returning to the franchise and Universal hired
F. Gary Gray to helm the eighth film,
The Fate of the Furious. This film was to begin a new trilogy to conclude the franchise. The film was released in 2017 and received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom praised the performances and action sequences, but criticized the storyline and the long running time. It was an unabashed commercial success, grossing over $1.2 billion worldwide. Universal later announced that final two films will be released in May 2020 and April 2021, with Lin returning to direct. It was announced that Brewster would reprise her role as Mia Toretto, while screenwriter
Daniel Casey was hired for the ninth film;
F9 is the first film since
Tokyo Drift not to be written by Morgan. Pre-production began in February 2019 in London, and filming began in June and concluded in November.
John Cena was cast as the film's villain, portraying Jakob Toretto, Dom's brother. Moreover,
Sung Kang returned as Han, while the film is the first to star
Helen Mirren and saw
Lucas Black reprise his role as Sean Boswell from
Tokyo Drift.
F9 was originally scheduled to be theatrically released on May 22, 2020, but was pushed back a year to April 2, 2021, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. It was then pushed back to May 28, 2021, and finally released in the United States on June 25. It broke pandemic box office records, grossing $726 million worldwide.
Fast X was designed to be the final movie of the franchise which later evolved in becoming a two part finale. Justin Lin was brought back to direct both movies but left the process early on due to on set differences with Vin Diesel. Louis Leterrier was then hired as his replacement to direct the two part finale. At Universal's request, the two part finale was changed to a trilogy. However,
Fast X under performed at the box-office and given its massive budget of nearly $400 million USD, Universal now opted for a standalone sequel which will server as a finale to the entire franchise and if it can be produced for $200 million USD. This led to protracted negotiations but a sequel to
Fast X,
Fast Forever was announced on January 30th 2026 after three years of postponement, with a expected release date of March 17th 2028.
Paul Walker's Character Brian O'Conner will return and the film will end the franchise after 27 years.
Spin-off films In 2015, Diesel announced that potential spin-offs were in the early stages of development. In 2019, Diesel announced a film that will focus on the female characters from the
Fast & Furious and mentioned that there are three spin-off films in development.
Nicole Perlman,
Lindsey Anderson Beer and
Geneva Robertson-Dworet will serve as co-screenwriters on the project. The first spin-off,
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, was announced in 2018 and starred Johnson and
Jason Statham. In late 2017,
Variety reported Morgan had written the script, while
David Leitch would direct. Originally, the ninth film in the main series was supposed to be released in April 2019, followed by the tenth in April 2021. Instead, Universal opted to proceed with the spin-off, to occupy the 2019 release date. This caused tensions between Johnson, Diesel and Gibson, with Gibson responding through an
Instagram post, criticizing Johnson for causing the ninth film to be delayed. Johnson later cited scheduling issues as his refusal to participate in
F9 and later confirmed he will not be in the final two
Fast & Furious films (
Fast X and its sequel), despite Vin Diesel asking him to return in an Instagram post, with Johnson calling Diesel's attempt "manipulative". However, Johnson made a cameo appearance at the end of
Fast X which indicated his potential involvement in its sequel. In October 2018, long-term producer
Neal H. Moritz filed a lawsuit against Universal Pictures for breach of oral contract and committing promissory fraud, after the distributor removed him as lead producer for
Hobbs & Shaw. Furthermore, it was revealed in May 2019 that Universal had dropped Moritz from all future
Fast & Furious installments. His lawsuit was settled in September 2020, and Moritz would later return to the series with
F9.
Television series In April 2016,
DreamWorks Animation was acquired by
NBCUniversal for $3.8 billion, with the acquisition including a first look deal with the company to produce animated projects based on or with films under the
Universal Pictures banner. In April 2018, streaming service
Netflix green-lit the series
Fast & Furious Spy Racers, with
Bret Haaland, Neal H. Mortiz, Vin Diesel, Tim Hedrick and Chris Morgan as executive producers and Hedrick and Haaland as showrunners. The series premiered on December 26, 2019, and ran for six seasons. == Reception ==