2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

2 Fast 2 Furious is a 2003 action film directed by John Singleton from a screenplay by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, from a story by Brandt, Haas, and Gary Scott Thompson. It is the sequel to The Fast and the Furious (2001), is the second installment in the Fast & Furious franchise, and stars Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner alongside Tyrese Gibson and Eva Mendes. In the film, ex-LAPD officer Brian O’Conner and his friend Roman Pearce (Gibson) go undercover for the U.S. Customs Service to apprehend a drug lord in exchange for the erasure of their criminal records. A second Fast & Furious film was planned immediately after the theatrical release of its predecessor in 2001, and was confirmed with the returns of Walker and producer Neal H. Moritz. Vin Diesel and Rob Cohen, the co-star and director of the first film, were unable to return; Gibson and Singleton joined the cast in their absence in 2002.

To canonically account for Diesel’s departure, the short film The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) was produced and released. Principal photography for 2 Fast 2 Furious commenced in September 2002 and lasted until that December, with filming locations including Miami and the surrounding areas in southern Florida. 2 Fast 2 Furious premiered at the Universal Amphitheatre on June 3, 2003, and was theatrically released worldwide by Universal Pictures on June 6. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics, with criticism for its screenplay and lack of originality, but received some praise for its lighthearted tone. 2 Fast 2 Furious was a commercial success, grossing over $236 million worldwide, making it the 17th highest-grossing film of 2003 and the then-highest grossing film in the franchise. The standalone sequel film, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, was released in 2006.

Plot.

After letting Dominic Toretto escape from the authorities, disgraced LAPD officer Brian O’Conner flees from Los Angeles to escape prosecution. He subsequently relocates to Miami and makes a living participating in illegal street races, driving a heavily modified silver Nissan Skyline GT-R R34. The races are organized by his local mechanic friend Tej Parker. After winning a race against drivers including Suki, the police show up and Brian is arrested. He is taken into custody, but given a deal by his former boss FBI Agent Bilkins and U.S. Customs Agent Markham to go undercover and bring down Argentinian drug lord Carter Verone in exchange for clearance of his criminal record. Agent Monica Fuentes, who has been undercover with Verone for a year, agrees to assist bringing Brian into the organization. Brian agrees on the condition that he is given permission to choose his own partner.

This prompts Brian to travel to Barstow, where he enlists the help of childhood friend Roman Pearce, who served jail time for housing stolen cars in a garage and currently making a living as a demolition derby driver. Roman, currently on parole, gets into a brief fight and blames Brian for his arrest, but reluctantly agrees to help in exchange for the same deal Brian was offered. For their mission, they are issued two confiscated, modified cars—a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII and a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GTS. Roman and Brian compete against rival drivers to obtain a package from a confiscated Ferrari located in a lot with Verone hiring the drivers who get it. During the race, some of the hired drivers crash while a few are injured by big rigs. Markham, who mistakenly thinks that the duo is trying to run away, follows them to the lot. The police ambush spooks Roman, who shoots at Markham to help maintain his cover. Roman later confronts the

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agent for interfering with the mission. Brian is able to salvage the situation, however, telling Bilkins that Verone is allegedly aiming to launder his money in Miami before escaping on his private jet. Brian and Roman challenge a pair of muscle car drivers they raced when competing for Verone’s hiring, for pink slips. Despite engine and power output handicaps, they win the race and obtain the rival cars—a 1969 Yenko Camaro SYC and a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T previously driven by the hired drivers. Roman later confronts Brian about the constant threat of Verone’s men; however, they patch up their differences and focus on completing the mission. At the VIP section of a nightclub, Brian and Roman witness Verone torturing MPD Detective Whitworth into giving his men a window of opportunity to make their getaway. The next morning, Monica warns them that they will be killed once the drop is made. Despite this, Markham refuses to call off the job, claiming that it is their one chance to catch Verone.

Development.

Plans to make a sequel came about after the box office success of The Fast and the Furious, which grossed over $200 million worldwide. John Singleton had seen the first film and was awed by it, saying: “When I saw The Fast and the Furious, I was like, ‘Damn, why didn’t I think of that?’ Growing up in South Central L.A., we had street races all the time.” Singleton’s rave reaction of the film as well as the culture of street racing in general influenced his decision to direct the sequel. The director also claimed that the concept of street racing could be something young audiences can relate to. The screenplay was written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, along with Gary Scott Thompson (the co-writer from the first film). There were two film treatments submitted early on, one of which did not involve Vin Diesel’s character in the event the actor would not return for the sequel. Singleton credited Top Gun as a major influence for the film, particularly with regard to the action sequences.

Pre-production.

Vin Diesel was offered $25 million to return in the sequel as Dominic Toretto. However, he refused after reading the screenplay as he felt that its potential was inferior compared to that of its predecessor; rather, he chose to appear in The Chronicles of Riddick. According to Variety magazine in 2015 he was less taken with what the screenwriters had in mind for the film, “They didn’t take a Francis Ford Coppola approach to it. They approached it like they did sequels in the ’80s and ’90s, when they would drum up a new story unrelated for the most part, and slap the same name on it.” However, Diesel reflected on his decision in a July 2014 report from Uproxx, saying: “I would’ve said, ‘Don’t walk away from it just because the script sucked in 2 Fast 2 Furious because there’s an obligation to the audience to fight, no matter what, to make that film as good as possible.’ … I might have had a little bit more patience or belief in the long-term of it.”

Paul Walker, who had just finished Timeline at the time, reprised his role in the second picture as Brian O’Conner. Tyrese Gibson, then known mononymously as Tyrese, also became a part of the cast having previously acted in Singleton’s Baby Boy, which was the singer’s feature film acting debut; he portrayed Roman Pearce. Ja Rule, another prominent rap artist who appeared in The Fast and the Furious, was originally tapped for the role of Tej Parker. Ja Rule was offered $500,000 for the role, which was more than what he had been paid to appear in The Fast and the Furious, $15,000. According to Singleton, “Ja got too big for himself. He turned it down. He turned down a half a million dollars. … He was acting like he was too big to be in the sequel. He wouldn’t return calls.” The director then hired Chris “Ludacris” Bridges as a substitute. Bridges would later rise to prominence for appearing in the film and star in later films such as Crash and Hustle & Flow.

Filming.

Principal photography began in the fall of 2002, and Matthew F. Leonetti served as the director of photography. Filming was done mostly in various parts of South Florida such as Miami Beach, Seven Mile Bridge, and Homestead Air Reserve Base. Hauser’s character’s mansion was shot in Coral Gables, in a house owned by Sylvester Stallone. A car enthusiast himself, Walker drove a Nissan Skyline GT-R model R34 borrowed from the film’s Technical Advisor, Craig Lieberman, in the film’s opening scenes. Aoki did not have a driver’s license or any driving experience prior to the film’s production, and took driving lessons during filming; she drove a pink 2001 Honda S2000 AP1 in the film. Gibson drove a convertible Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder, while Michael Ealy drove a Toyota Supra Turbo MkIV model JZA80 that had been used by Walker in The Fast and the Furious.

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Box office.

2 Fast 2 Furious earned $50.5 million in its U.S. opening in 3,408 theaters, ranking first for the weekend. In its 133 days in release, the film reached a peak release of 3,418 theaters in the U.S. and earned $127.2 million in the US, taking the number #1 spot off of Finding Nemo. The film had the 15th largest US gross of 2003 and the 16th largest worldwide gross of 2003; combined with the international gross of $109.2 million, the film earned $236.4 million worldwide.

Cast:

Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner:
Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce:
Eva Mendes as Monica Fuentes:
Cole Hauser as Carter Verone:
Chris “Ludacris” Bridges as Tej Parker:
James Remar as Agent Markham:
Devon Aoki as Suki: A friend of Brian
Thom Barry as Agent Bilkins:
Edward Finlay as Agent Dunn:
Mark Boone Junior as Detective Whitworth:
Mo Gallini as Enrique: Verone’s bald henchman.
Roberto Sanchez as Roberto:
MC Jin as Jimmy:
Amaury Nolasco as Orange Julius:
Michael Ealy as Slap Jack:
John Cenatiempo as Korpi:
Eric Etebari as Darden:
Neal H. Moritz as a Police Officer: