Vin Diesel Agreed To His Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift Cameo Under One Condition
Despite the fact that Rotten Tomatoes indicates that not all of the movies in the series have received the greatest of reviews, the "Fast & Furious” franchise is often noted for its large fanbase.
Although a few have received fresh scores from fans and critics, there are also many that ultimately didn't resonate well, at least at the time of their initial release. "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" is one of those films in the series that unfortunately missed the mark for critics, receiving only a 36% from the group. Interestingly, the film received a markedly better score from general audiences, speeding in at an admirable 69%. In fact, "Tokyo Drift" has even become a fan favorite in the franchise, according to some viewers (via Reddit).
The 2006 film deviates from following the usual formula of the franchise, instead choosing to focus on Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), a high schooler who is forced to move to Tokyo with his father in order to avoid jail time after a racing incident. Although most of the franchise's central players do not feature largely in the movie, the ending of "Tokyo Drift" provides a legitimate connection to the Toretto family after all, as Sean prepares to race none other than Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel).
Diesel appears in this brief cameo just before the credits roll. It might surprise fans to know that Diesel only agreed to make this appearance as a result of a deal with one very specific condition.
Vin Diesel wanted the rights to the Riddick franchise in exchange for a cameo
According to a 2013 story from The Hollywood Reporter, actor Vin Diesel negotiated with Universal for the rights to the character of Riddick as his one condition to appear as Dominic Toretto in "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift." Diesel had originally opted to step away from the franchise after only the first 2001 film, but he was ultimately coaxed back after "2 Fast 2 Furious" failed to perform as well as expected.
Seeking to return the series to the glory of its first iteration, Universal aimed to quickly insert him into "Tokyo Drift" in a cameo role that could foreshadow the future of the franchise. Diesel agreed to do the cameo, but instead of getting his usual actor's fee, Diesel insisted on obtaining the rights to the character of Richard B. Riddick.
Diesel appeared as Riddick in the 2000 film "Pitch Black" and its 2004 sequel, "The Chronicles of Riddick." After obtaining the rights to the character, Diesel and director David Twohy were able to release "Riddick" in 2013. Unfortunately, the third film in the series didn't do enough to resonate with many critics or audiences, only managing mediocre scores on Rotten Tomatoes from both groups.
Notably, as far as we know, a fourth "Riddick" movie remains in development. In a 2019 Instagram post, Diesel revealed the script for the upcoming film, which is set to be titled "Riddick: Furya." While there haven't been a great many updates on the project since that moment, Diesel once again took to Instagram in May 2022 to share a look at a storyboard for the film.