Just when you thought TV series and movie plots are vastly different, the Fast and Furious saga breaks that misconception with 9 successful movies in the franchise.
The highly anticipated 10th installment is said to make its movie theater debut in 2022.
Here’s a synopsis of the 9 Fast and Furious series to (literally) get you up to speed.
Caution: Spoiler Alert.
It’s amazing to think that it’s been 21 years since the first Fast and Furious movie. This means the babies born in 2001 can now legally consume alcohol!
This first installment made it the 19th highest-grossing film of the year, starring the biggest action stars in Tinseltown: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, and Michelle Rodriguez.
Remember those names as you’ll be seeing a lot of them in the next movies.
When the movie was released, people could hardly predict that it would become the cult classic that it is- it has everything an adrenaline junkie would look for in a film- crime, espionage, death-defying car chases, and a little love interest on the side.
Detective Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) goes undercover to solve the modus operandi of an organized crime group known for stealing high-value goods using fast cars.
He becomes hooked and you’d have to watch the series if he ditches police hood for a life in the fast lane.
Two years after the success of the first movie, Paul Walker reprises his role as a disgraced detective to regain his career and reputation. This time he chases after a major drug ring.
Paul Walker is missing his original crew though and now shares the screen with Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, and Cole Hauser.
The commercial success continues selling USD $ 236 Million worth of tickets worldwide and ended the year as the 17th top-grossing film of 2003.
Paul Walker takes a back seat for this Fast and Furious installment and lets Lucas Black take the wheel. With an iconic soundtrack, this is every teenage boy’s fantasy and centers around a young racing protégé going head-to-head with the most ruthless drag racers in Tokyo.
Starring Lucas Black, Sung Kang,Bow Wow, Nathalie Kelley, it grossed lower than the first two movies, not placing in the top 20 movie earners of the year, but still selling a respectable USD $ 158.9 Million worth of tickets.
If it ain’t broke, why fix it?
This movie is almost an exact replica of the first movie, but with flashier effects. Even the cast makes an encore with Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster still along for the ride.
Still, the special effects were successful, again placing the franchise back at the 17th spot of highest-grossing films selling USD $ 360.4 Million.
Halfway into the franchise and we know the formula works. The cast features a mix of the best heroes and criminals in the past movies. A big addition to the cast is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The addition of The Rock and the flashier stunts proved to be extremely successful, grossing USD $ 626 Million at the box office and was the 7th highest-grossing movie of 2011.
The lines of good and evil are definitely blurred in this film where Detective O’Conner teams up with Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) Team Toretto to take down a heroin drug mafia.
Commercial success continues and lands the film as the 6th top-grossing film of the year, selling USD $ 788.7 Million worldwide.
This installment introduces Jason Statham as the main protagonist, portraying Deckard Shaw who wants to seek revenge for his younger brother.
In terms of box office success, it seems little can break the franchise's positive momentum and lands the top three spot of the highest-grossing film of the year, hitting USD 1.5 Billion in ticket sales.
Attempting to recreate the success of the 7th movie, the already star-studded cast adds
Kurt Russell, Charlize Theron, and Helen Mirren to its repertoire.
Charlize Theron’s character, Cipher leads the villains in the movie and turns Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) back into the dark side.
This also marked the first Fast and Furious film without Paul Walker who ironically died in a car crash in 2013.
It wasn’t as successful as the previous movie but still ended respectably at USD $ 1.2 Billion in sales.
The Rock Johnson (Luke Hobbes) comes back to pair up with Jason Statham (Deckard Shaw) to fight off Idris Elba (Brixton Lore) who literally has superpowers.
Critics have argued that this installment is the farthest from the original intent of the movie series, and the box office tickets reflect the sentiment.
The movie dropped off from its billion-dollar earnings and grossed “just” USD $ 760 Million.
Reprising most of the original crew, F9 went back to its roots- fighting villains in fast cars. A new sibling rivalry is introduced through John Cena who plays Jakob Toretto-Dominic’s brother.
The success seems to have plateaued and ended the box office run with USD $ 726.7 Million in ticket sales.
Fast X (to be released in 2023)
Are you ready for Fast X?
Most of the cast is expected to be back, and you will be hard-pressed to find spoilers on the net. The trailers aren’t even out yet.
But with the trend of box office success of the entire Fast and Furious franchise, Fast X is poised to be another big hit.