The Fast & Furious franchise has made billions around the world and is one of the most popular modern movie series. The movies are so widely loved that even the great Christopher Nolan is unapologetic in his love for them. But beyond that Nolan, doesn’t simply love Fast & Furious movies, but he loves the movie that, at least initially, nobody liked, Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift.
Christopher Nolan has spoken openly about his love for Fast & Furious generally and Tokyo Drift specifically before. The movie was written by screenwriter Chris Morgan, who following Tokyo Drift would go on to write most of the rest of the franchise. When THR asked him about Nolan’s comments, the writer admitted he was thrilled to hear it, and the two have apparently met and discussed the movie more recently. Morgan explained…
How could it not? He is literally one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of humanity, and he likes my movie. By the way, I’ve spoken to him about it since then… From where we started to now, you have no idea how good it feels to hear that everyone appreciates what we’ve always appreciated about it.
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when Chris Morgan and Chris Nolan were talking about Tokyo Drift. One can only imagine what that conversation was like. Basking in the love of a talent like Nolan had to be incredible for Morgan considering that when Tokyo Drift was first released it wasn’t widely adored the way it is today.
Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift has certainly come a long way. While the movie wasn’t a box office failure by any stretch, it was the first, and thus far only, movie in the series to not star either Paul Walker or Vin Diesel. As such it was a largely stand-alone film that shared ideas with the franchise, but was only connected to the main series through references and a Vin Diesel cameo at the end of the film.
However, Tokyo Drift would arguably go on to become the single most important in the entire franchise. It introduced the character of Han, played by Sung Kang and then proceeded to kill off the character of Han, a decision that would become a major element of the franchise to this day.
The future of the Fast & Furious franchise is a bit of a mystery right now. We know there will be at least one more movie, a sequel to Fast X. However, there might also be another film starring Dwayne Johnson at some point, and Morgan says he is working on something related to the Hobbs & Shaw spinoff, which is separate from that project. Also, there’s still supposed be a female-led Fast & Furious spinoff. Whatever happens, we can be sure Christopher Nolan will be watching.