The look of the “Fast & Furious” franchise could have been different if decisions made around the franchise hadn’t been changed at the last minute.

Fast & Furious is one of the most popular brands globally. After 20 years, 9 films have been released, including 8 main feature films and one side story.

The latest movie called F9 (or Fast & Furious 9) is expected to be released in April 2021. The production plan for the 10th main film and two spin-off films was also announced by Universal Pictures .

“Fast & Furious” and the main role Dominic Toretto are two names associated with Vin Diesel’s career.

The audience is very familiar with the character Dominic Toretto and his speedy “family”. However, few people know that  Fast & Furious  would have been very different if the following behind-the-scenes stories had come true.

Vin Diesel was not the first choice for the role of Dominic Toretto

Initially, Timothy Olyphant was the choice to play Dominic Toretto. But the actor rejected Universal’s offer because he was not interested in the role. He thinks  Fast & Furious  has little chance of succeeding on screen.

Timothy Olyphant of the TV series “The Santa Clarita Diet” almost became Dominic Toretto on screen.

Like Olyphant, Vin Diesel also did not predict the success of the series when he signed the contract to participate in the first part. After  The Fast and the Furious  (2001), the actor thought he would never play Dominic Toretto again.

However, the great success of the first film paved the way for Universal Pictures to plan to produce a sequel called  2 Fast 2 Furious. However , Diesel considered it a redundant sequel and did not return to the series.

As a result, in 2003,  2 Fast 2 Furious  hit the big screen without Dominic Toretto. Although the main character of the first film was missing, the producer succeeded in introducing to the audience a large group of new characters, which is the premise for the famous “speed family” on screen in recent years. after.

Thanks to the failure of “Riddick”, Dominic Toretto has the opportunity to appear again in “Fast & Furious”

Before Toretto, Vin Diesel played another criminal on screen, Riddick. However, after the first film was released in 2000, this character quickly fell into oblivion. But Vin Diesel is still determined to revive this character.

However, disappointing Diesel’s expectations, the second film about a criminal in a post-apocalyptic world called  The Chronicles of Riddick  (2004) lost heavily when it only earned 115.8 million USD on its original budget. 110 million USD. Because Diesel still wanted full ownership of the rights to the character, an agreement was made between him and Universal Pictures.

If it weren’t for Vin Diesel’s attachment to the character Riddick, it’s unknown when Toretto would have had the chance to return to “Fast & Furious”.

In exchange for ownership of the character Riddick, Vin Diesel will play Dominic Toretto and appear at the end of  The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift  (2006) in a cameo role. His character appears, challenges Lucas Black (Sean Boswell) and the two compete on the track.

Thanks to Riddick, Dominic Toretto reappeared as the male lead of the  Fast & Furious series  from then on. During the 2009 summer blockbuster season, the fourth part of the series called  Fast & Furious  earned 71 million USD in revenue after the first week, far exceeding the 23 million of the previous film.

Paul Walker also almost gave up “Fast & Furious” after the 5th film

Vin Diesel is not the only member of the  Fast & Furious  “family” who intends to abandon the film series. The late actor Paul Walker also wondered whether after  Fast Five  – the fifth film released in 2011 – this brand would still retain its heat.

But luckily for the  Fast & Furious franchise itself, the audience and the film crew, Paul Walker continued his role as Brian O’Conner until the day he died in a tragic traffic accident .

Brian O’Conner’s final movie photo in Furious 7 made many viewers shed tears.

The passing of Paul Walker while the 7th part of the series,  Furious 7, had not yet finished filming was a big loss.

Not only is the grief of family, friends, colleagues and fans, Paul Walker’s death also causes the content of  Furious 7, and the future of the series, to change to fill the void of Brian O. ‘Conner.

Justin Lin and Sung Kang once revealed Han Lue’s origin in a movie outside the “Fast & Furious” series.

One of the reasons why the Fast & Furious  movies  are so smooth and engaging is the tight story. The tightness is thanks to Justin Li having directed four consecutive films in the middle of the series, including:  The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five  and temporarily ending with  Fast & Furious 6. .

Like the character Han Lue (Sung Kang), director Justin Lin also returned with the latest film – F9 . Both Justin Lin and Sung Kang are ready to bring Han Lue back to the series after his death in previous installments.

The return of Han Lue, with his trademark snack package, promises many interesting surprises in the upcoming film.

In 2002, Sung Kang and Justin Lin collaborated on  Better Luck Tomorrow . In this movie, Sung Kang plays a teenage gangster. From the perspective of Sung Kang and Justin Lin,  Better Luck Tomorrow  is basically a film that introduces the origin of the character Han in  Fast & Furious.

Although not recognized, or related, to the  Fast & Furious brand, Better  Luck Tomorrow  can still be an interesting side reference for fans of the series, especially when the secret of Han Lue’s fate is about to be revealed. Revealed in the next movie.

The role of Luke Hobbs almost went to another actor instead of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Luke Hobbs was first introduced in  Fast Five . Similar to Dominic Toretto, this role was also originally intended for another name, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

That name, is none other than Tommy Lee Jones . Men In Black  ‘s secret agent K  almost became the police officer chasing Dom and his speedy family during their clash with the Reyes criminal gang instead of the Scorpion King.

According to Vin Diesel, after fans recommended Dwayne Johnson for a role in  Fast & Furious, the producer changed his mind and chose The Rock for the role of Luke Hobbs instead of Tommy Lee Jones, who was then over 60.

The Rock and Jason Statham make a great on-screen action duo.

In  Fast & Furious, Luke Hobbs and Dereck Shaw (Jason Statham) form a good action duo. The spin-off film  Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) further proves this comment to be correct.

The Rock and Statham’s compatibility in appearance and acting turns their joint film into a fascinating cinematic experience . At that time, if Universal still decided to choose Tommy Lee Jones as Luke Hobbs, it is likely that the spin-off story about Hobbs and Shaw would not have a chance to take shape.