Fast and the Furious: Reasons behind the franchise soaring to glory and then plummeting, explained

The Fast and the Furious franchise has been an exciting adventure, blending both triumphs at the box office and occasional setbacks. However, it continues to captivate fans with its high-octane action and diverse characters. Despite its humble start as an underground street racing movie in 2001, the franchise quickly gained immense popularity and has since generated billions in global revenue.

Yet, as the franchise continues to grow, so does the weight of responsibility that comes with it. This is particularly true when it comes to elongating the storyline, pushing the boundaries of action to the point of incredulity, and creating characters that are all too predictable. Initially, the franchise was met with acclaim, but as it progressed, it became evident that it had strayed from its original essence.

As the Fast and the Furious franchise experienced both its rise and its decline, viewers witnessed how the once successful series struggled to maintain a delicate equilibrium between its growing popularity and its core essence.

The Secrets Behind the Success of Fast and the Furious: Uncovering the Key Factors

The blockbuster franchise Fast and Furious achieved success by incorporating diverse representation, family themes, high-octane action, global appeal, and continuous evolution. These elements came together to create a long-lasting and popular series.

Revenue

The success of the franchise can be attributed to its exceptional box office numbers. Starting with the initial film in 2001, which brought in $144 million domestically and $62 million internationally, the franchise has steadily gained worldwide recognition.

Despite this, the franchise continued to break revenue records in countries all around the world, with both Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious grossing over $1 billion. This further proved the franchise’s ability to captivate fans internationally.

Actors and Actresses

The diverse and daring team of characters, including Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner, and Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz, has been a crucial factor in the success of Fast and the Furious. These iconic roles have solidified their place in the franchise.

With the addition of characters such as Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs, the franchise has not only become more attractive, but has also attracted a diverse and devoted fan base.

First plot

The initial Fast and the Furious films, which drew inspiration from an article in Vibe magazine about the street racing scene, established the foundation for its widespread appeal.

For example, the focus on illegal street racing competitions, undercover police operations, and the dynamics between characters such as Brian O’Conner and Dominic Toretto were what set the storyline apart from the previous installments.

Steps

According to Deadline, the Fast and the Furious franchise has been a major success, grossing $5.574 billion from nine films at the global box office. Despite the series’ original budget of $38 million, its focus on the theme of “family”has made it both progressive and inclusive, expanding the definition of family to include a wider sense of community.

David Ayer, known for his successful work on Suicide Squad, made significant alterations to the script of the original movie. By setting the film in Los Angeles and assembling a diverse cast, he effectively contributed to the success of the franchise.

According to Entertainment Weekly, during his appearance on Jon Bernthal’s Real One podcast, David Ayer expressed his sense of being excluded and ignored by the Fast & Furious franchise.

What led to the decline of the Fast and the Furious franchise?

The Fast and Furious film franchise saw a decline in both its quality and reception from viewers due to its inconsistent storytelling, increasing levels of unrealism, frequent character revivals, excessive action scenes, and abundance of spin-offs.

Extending the plot

Despite its longevity and success, the Fast and the Furious series encountered a challenge in maintaining its original focus as the storyline had to be stretched across multiple films. As the franchise expanded to include nine movies, the core themes of authenticity, family, and street racing were no longer at the forefront of the plot.

The shift towards convoluted storylines involving murder, revenge, espionage, and cyber-terrorism detracted from the original essence and realism of the series.

Exceeding Character Limit

The introduction of numerous characters in each movie of the franchise led to confusion among viewers about the cast. As each sequel introduces even more new characters, the emotional impact of the storyline decreases, as the audience becomes divided among a plethora of other characters.

The constant presence of Letty and Han ultimately diminished the impact of their deaths and made their sacrifices seem insignificant, ultimately detracting from the emotional depth of the movie.

Unrealistic action sequences

Despite being praised for its heart-stopping action and seemingly impossible stunts, the Fast and the Furious franchise’s excessive focus on these elements ultimately worked against its success.

The franchise shifted focus from engines revving through city streets to characters carrying out seemingly impossible feats, such as leaping from cars, maneuvering tanks on highways, and engaging in global-scale espionage and action.

This change, which deviated from the franchise’s traditional foundation, resulted in a decrease in the original fan following and a loss of the series’ authenticity.

Common endings

Another factor contributing to the decline in popularity of the Fast and the Furious franchise is the predictability of its endings. As the series progressed, each film started to adhere to a similar formula where characters faced similar challenges and resolved them in the same manner as previous films, resulting in a lack of innovation and monotony.

The lack of creative development in the narrative endings also contributed to the monotony of the franchise, resulting in a decrease in audience engagement.

The decline of the Fast and the Furious franchise: What led to its loss of steam?

The data presented in the table below, sourced from Deadline, illustrates the downward trend of the Fast and the Furious franchise’s global box office earnings. The numbers reveal a pattern of diminishing financial success as the franchise expanded, suggesting a potential decline in momentum over the years.

Movie Title	Release Date	Worldwide Box Office Collection
The Fast and the Furious	June 22, 2001	$207,283,925
2 Fast 2 Furious	June 5, 2003	$236,350,661
Fast Five	April 29, 2011	$626,137,675
Furious 7	April 3, 2015	$1,515,341,399
The Fate of the Furious	April 14, 2017	$1,236,005,118
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw	August 2, 2019	$760,732,926
Fast & Furious 9	May 19, 2021	$726,229,501
Fast X	May 19, 2023	$146,100,000

Why did the Fast and Furious franchise lose its popularity?

The decline of the Fast and the Furious franchise can be attributed to various factors such as:

Escalating absurdity: The franchise has veered towards increasingly absurd plotlines and stunts, moving away from its original roots of realism and relatability
Resurrecting characters: Bringing back characters from the dead, like Letty and Han, has diminished the impact of their deaths and undermined the emotional depth of the storyline
Transforming villains into heroes: The franchise has blurred the lines between villains and heroes, altering the core principles of the characters and rewriting the franchise’s history
Unrealistic weapons: The incorporation of nonsensical and futuristic weapons in the films has detracted from the authenticity and believability of the action sequences
Superhuman abilities: Characters displaying superhuman feats, like rapid healing and extraordinary strength, have stretched the boundaries of realism, making the storyline less grounded
Neglecting character development: Instances like Dom’s sudden focus on his son only after a kidnapping incident have highlighted inconsistencies in character development and emotional depth within the franchise
Ridiculous space expedition: The choice to dispatch characters into outer space in a car represented a height of absurdity that could have possibly turned off certain fans and diverted attention from the franchise’s fundamental appeal.

The Fast and the Furious franchise should have given Paul Walker’s character a proper goodbye sooner

The Fast and the Furious franchise has encountered a significant obstacle in finding a graceful way to bid farewell to Paul Walker’s character, Brian O’Conner. The films have had to resort to unusual methods to explain Brian’s absence.

Sometimes, they are successful in providing a satisfactory explanation, while other times, they fail miserably. This repetitive pattern of ending the day without bidding farewell to Brian has hindered the growth and progress of the franchise, as well as prevented the resolution of his problems.

Vin Diesel recognizes the importance of properly concluding Brian O’Conner’s story, understanding that a simple farewell is insufficient. He understands the significance of bidding farewell to the character, according to Collider.

Diesel’s comments exemplify how George’s departure comes with a conflicting situation – on one hand, he carries on the legacy of Paul Walker, but on the other, he must also uphold the narrative of the series, which means saying goodbye to a cherished character like Brian O’Conner. This is an ongoing and difficult responsibility.

Reviving the Fast and Furious Franchise: Keeping the Legacy Alive

Maintaining the legacy of the Fast and the Furious series involves a blend of modifications while staying true to the fundamental themes of family, loyalty, and adrenaline-fueled excitement. Emphasizing character development, solid storytelling, and top-notch action sequences is crucial in keeping the franchise engaging.

Additionally, it would have been of utmost significance to incorporate a short homage to Paul Walker’s character, Brian O’Conner, in the film’s conclusion. This would have preserved his legacy and maintained the emotional connection that devoted fans have with him.

Striking a balance between innovation and honoring the franchise’s tradition could have been accomplished, resulting in sustained success and continued audience appeal.

An upcoming installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise, currently untitled, is scheduled to hit theaters on April 4, 2025.