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9 Interesting Behind The Scenes Facts About Fast Five

Fast & Furious 9 is all set to release this month. As the film gears up for release, various theories have been coming up online regarding it. A few reports also say that Fast & Furious 9 will be set in space at some point in time. But here we must admit that Fast Five is still one of the best movies in the franchise. This was the film from where the franchise changed its genre to heist movies instead of racing movies. It had the best plot and some of the best action sequences. So, let’s check a few behind-the-scenes facts about Fast Five.

Facts About Fast Five

1. Tommy Lee Jones was the original choice for Hobbs

The character of Luke Hobbs was introduced in Fast Five. Fans say that he is one of the best characters introduced in the Fast & Furious franchise. But they are unaware of the fact that the character was originally written for Tommy Lee Jones. Maybe Fast Five and the rest of the movies would have been completely different since Jones is a stoic and serious actor. But since he doesn’t stand for any funny business and called Jim Carrey a “buffoon” on the set of Batman Forever, it is unlikely that he would have been a good choice for the Fast & Furious films.

2. Shift from street racing to heist films was a conscious decision

The first four movies of the Fast & Furious franchise were based on street racing. Since the movies were not doing business as per the expectations, the makers decided to change the genre to heist films. Many fans think that this was a very good decision. This is because the change in the genre helped the later films to get a more positive response from critics. Also, they started to earn billions at the box office. Street racing has been included since Fast Five but only for some selected situations.

3. Inspired by Golden Girls

Facts About Fast Five

Justin Lin’s inspiration for the Fast & Furious movies was the 60s heist movies. One of them was The Golden Girls. He says that he was a big fan of the sitcom. Lin said that the show influenced him to bring back the characters from the previous movies. Lin also says that NBC shows like The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, and Nurses shared a similar universe and they featured the same hurricane over the same weekend. Fast & Furious is not a shared universe like the MCU. But it is slowly getting over there.

4. Tyrese Gibson thought that the movie wouldn’t make sense

In a behind-the-scenes interview, Tyrese Gibson revealed that he didn’t think that the movie will make any sense. He thought about how the returning characters can be brought together in a way that is satisfying as well as logical. Now since Fast Five is not the world’s most complex movie and the audiences are ready to enjoy the ride, writer Chris Morgan managed to bring all the characters from the previous movies. The characters did not know each other and slowly they started to become friends.

5. It was filmed in Puerto Rico instead of Rio de Janeiro

The main plot point of Fast Five was a heist in Rio. Despite being based in Rio de Janeiro, the film was not shot in Rio de Janeiro. It was originally planned to be shot in that place to make it realistic. But studio tax incentives were offered by the Puerto Rican government that couldn’t be refused. So Puerto Rico is the place we get to see in Fast Five. But it was represented as Rio de Janeiro. Moreover, the change in filming location also saved more than $11 million for the studio.

6. Paul Walker did his stunts

The stunts and action sequences of Fast & Furious are a bit unrealistic. The movie makes use of CGI in the best way possible. But despite that, the films have some of the best action sequences. One of the scenes in Fast Five shows Brian O’Connor jumping from a train to a speeding car. Another scene shows Brian leaping on rooftops in Rio. Just like 2 Fast 2 Furious, late Paul Walker did his stunts by himself and worked with a stunt double to perfect them. In one particular scene, Walker jumped 30 feet from a building to a safety mat.

7. Michelle Rodriguez was not aware of the twist ending

Facts About Fast Five

Michelle Rodriguez was the central character of the fourth Fast & Furious movie. But her character, Letty, was killed in this movie and she did not return in Fast Five. But Letty returned in Fast & Furious 6. Even Han will be seen in Fast & Furious 9 after his death in Tokyo Drift. Letty was shown to be alive in the mid-credits scene of Fast Five. Rodriguez revealed that she was not aware that her character was still alive till she saw the film as an audience. Now it is a good thing since Letty returned as the franchise was missing the scene where she screams “Dom!”

8. Influenced by The Italian Job

The climax of Fast Five leads to a heist where Dom and Brian rob a bank vault having $100 million inside. They destroy a lot of property in Rio as a result of this. So the movie was influenced by one of the best heist movies of all time, The Italian Job. It revolves around a group of British conmen who steal bars of gold from Italy using three Mini Coopers. Fast Five was also influenced by The French Connection and The Bourne Identity. The car chase scenes of those movies were also considered fascinating by the director.

9. Diesel and Johnson’s characters

There has been a lot of news regarding the on-set tensions between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson. Both of them have accused each other of coming late to the set. This started with Fast Five and their contracts. Their contracts say that none of them can lose a fight. As a result of this, it has been reported that the producers count the number of punches they blow on each other. This is the reason why we never got to see them fighting properly in the movie.

Did you know these BTS Facts about Fast Five? Let us know in the comments.

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Anupal Sraban Neog

Born and grew up in Guwahati, Assam. Wish to see a discrimination free India at some point. Love to travel and explore new places. Binge watching web series is my favorite time pass activity. A Cinephilia and an ardent follower of Marvel and DC.
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