Fast & Furious has had its ups and downs over the years, but there’s one entry in the franchise that saved it from a disappointing future. Hitting the big screen in 2001, The Fast and the Furious introduced Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner, a duo that would eventually become the franchise’s anchor.

This debut installment was followed by 2 Fast 2 Furious in 2003 and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift in 2006, neither of which were as well received. The same can be said for Fast & Furious (2009), the fourth installment. Although the first movie developed a pᴀssionate fan following, the three sequels that followed suggested that maybe the franchise had run out of road.

Fast Five Marks A Turning Point For Fast & Furious

The Fast Saga Was On Rocky Ground

Hitting theaters in 2011, Fast Five changed everything for Fast & Furious. Directed by Justin Lin and pitting Dom and Brian against a Brazilian drug lord and tenacious federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), this fifth installment injected some much-needed NOS into the franchise, opening up a brighter future.

Tokyo Drift may now have a cult following among Fast heads, but it was undeniably a box office disappointment at the time. The film essentially wiped the slate clean and introduced an entirely new story and slate of characters, and audiences voted with their wallets. As seen in the chart below, the third film grossed just $158 million worldwide.

Tokyo Drift‘s performance threw a wrench in the franchise’s gears. In a 2013 interview with The Wrap, former Universal Pictures co-president of production revealed that the film had executives “weighing whether to go straight to video or not for future sequels,“ a decision that would have killed the franchise’s chances for major success.

After the Dom cameo in Tokyo Drift was met with enthusiasm from audiences, though, executives decided to give Diesel more creative control. The result was Fast & Furious, essentially a franchise Hail Mary. The film earned the worst reviews in the franchise, but its financial success paved the way for Fast Five, which remains the second-highest rated Fast & Furious movie on Rotten Tomatoes.

Fast Five Steers Fast & Furious Toward Success

Dom’s 2011 Outing Establishes Key Continuing Franchise Elements

With a strong response from critics and audiences alike, Fast Five laid the groundwork for future sequels and cemented the franchise as a big-screen experience with no risk of going straight to DVD. The film’s action is generally gritty and grounded, but the bank-safe heist is the first real taste of the kind of over-the-top set pieces that define later installments.

In addition to opening the door for more bombastic stunts, Fast Five also reinforced who the faces of the franchise are. It’s not just Dom and Brian carrying the Fast Saga forward, but figures like Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Mia (Jordana Brewster), Tej (Ludacris), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Han (Sung Kang), and Hobbs. They’ve all become fan favorites.

What’s more, it’s clear that the Fast franchise itself knows just how important Fast Five is. Fast X‘s (2023) whole premise is essentially built around and inspired by the events of the 2011 film, with Jason Momoa’s Dante having been retconned into the story as Reyes’ (Joaquim de Almeida) son.

Fast X: Part 2‘s release is on the horizon, and though the franchise has arguably lost some of its luster since 2011, each new installment is still undoubtedly a major theatrical event. Things may now be winding down for the Fast Saga, but Fast Five remains the movie that made the franchise’s last 14-plus years possible.