Fast & Furious 6

Fast & Furious 6 (alternatively known as Furious 6 or Fast Six) is a 2013 American action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sixth installment in The Fast and the Furious franchise. Fast & Furious 6 follows a professional criminal gang led by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), who are offered amnesty for their crimes by U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), in exchange for helping him take down a skilled mercenary organization led by Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), one member of which is Toretto's former lover Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez).

After departing from the street racing theme of previous films in Fast Five (2011) to great commercial and critical success, developers approached Fast & Furious 6 with the aim to transform the franchise further, incorporating elements of spy and adventure film, in the hopes of increasing audience numbers further.

Pre-production begun in April 2011, and principal photography began in London in July 2012, and featured several international filming locations, including the Canary Islands, Glasgow, and Los Angeles.

Fast & Furious 6 first opened in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2013, and was released internationally on May 24, 2013. It achieved financial success, setting box office records as the sixth highest-grossing film released in 2013, the second highest-grossing film in Universal Studios history, and it surpassed Fast Five (2011) to become the highest-grossing film in the franchise. Fast & Furious 6 grossed over $788 million worldwide, ranking it number 87 on the all-time worldwide list of highest-grossing films.

Fast & Furious 6 received mostly positive reviews, with critics highlighting the likable cast, action sequences, Lin's direction, and the film's ability to immerse the audience in the high speed chases and conflict between the two opposing gangs. However, many were critical of the film's dialogue, and scenes of character progression. A sequel, Furious 7, released in April 2015, eventually surpassed Fast & Furious 6 as the highest-grossing film in the franchise, earning over $1.5 billion worldwide.

Plot
Following their successful heist in Brazil, Dominic "Dom" Toretto and his professional criminal crew have fled around the world and are living peacefully: Dom lives with Elena; his sister Mia lives with Brian O'Conner and their son, Jack; Gisele and Han are together; and Roman and Tej live in luxury. Meanwhile, DSS agent Luke Hobbs and Riley Hicks investigate the destruction of a Russian military convoy by a crew led by former British SAS Major and special ops soldier Owen Shaw. Hobbs persuades Dom to help capture Shaw by showing him a photo of his supposedly murdered girlfriend, Letty Ortiz. Dom and his crew accept the mission in exchange for their amnesty and allowing them to return to the United States.

In London, Shaw's hideout is found, but this is revealed to be a trap, distracting them and the police while Shaw's crew performs a heist at an Interpol building. Shaw flees by car, detonating his hideout and disabling most of the police, leaving Dom, Brian, Tej, Han, Gisele, Hobbs, and Riley to pursue him. Letty arrives to help Shaw, shooting Dom without hesitation before escaping. Back at their headquarters, Hobbs tells Dom's crew that Shaw is stealing components to create a deadly device, intending to sell it to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, Shaw's investigation into the opposing crew reveals Letty's relationship with Dom, but she is revealed to be suffering from amnesia. Dominic's crew learns that Shaw is connected to a drug lord who was imprisoned by Brian, Arturo Braga. Brian returns to Los Angeles as a prisoner to question Braga, who says Letty survived the explosion that seemingly killed her; Shaw took her in after discovering her amnesia. With FBI help, Brian is released from prison, regrouping with the team in London.

Dom challenges Letty in a street racing competition; afterward, he returns her cross necklace he had kept. After Letty leaves, Shaw offers Dom a chance to walk away, threatening to otherwise hurt his family, but Dom refuses. Tej tracks Shaw's next attack to a Spanish NATO base. Shaw's crew assaults a highway military convoy carrying a computer chip to complete his device. Dom's crew interferes, while Shaw, accompanied by Letty, commandeers a tank, destroying cars en route. Brian and Roman manage to flip the tank before it causes further damage, resulting in Letty being thrown from the vehicle, though Dom saves her. Shaw and his crew are captured, but reveal Mia has been kidnapped by Shaw's henchmen Vegh and Klaus. Hobbs is forced to release Shaw, and Riley, revealed to be Shaw's covert accomplice, leaves with him; Letty chooses to remain with Dom.

Shaw's group board a large moving aircraft on a runway as Dom's crew gives chase. Dom, Letty, and Brian board the craft; Brian rescues Mia, escaping in an onboard car. The plane attempts to take-off but is held down by excess weight as the rest of the team tether the plane to their vehicles. Gisele sacrifices herself to save Han from Shaw's henchman, who Han then kills. Letty kills Riley and escapes to safety, but Dom pursues Shaw and the computer chip. As the plane crashes into the ground, Shaw is thrown from it, seriously injuring him, and Dom drives a car out of the exploding plane. Dom reunites with his crew and gives the chip to Hobbs to secure their pardons. Dom and the others return to his old family home in Los Angeles. Hobbs and Elena, now working together, arrive to confirm the crew's freedom; Elena accepts that Dom loves Letty. As Roman says grace over the crew's meal, Dom asks Letty if the gathering feels familiar; she answers "no, but it feels like home."

In a mid-credits scene, in Tokyo, Han is involved in a car chase when he is suddenly broadsided by an oncoming car. The driver walks away from the scene after leaving Letty's cross necklace by the crash, and calls Dom as Han's car fatally explodes, saying, "You don't know me. You're about to."

Cast

 * Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, a former criminal, and professional street racer who has retired after their successful heist of $100 million with his crew in Brazil and is now staying with Elena.
 * Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner, a former FBI agent turned criminal and professional street racer who has retired and settled down with his girlfriend, Mia, and their son, Jack.
 * Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs, a loyal agent working for the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) who allies with Dom following his last encounter with Dom and his team in Rio de Janeiro.
 * Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz, Dom's wife who has suffered from amnesia and was presumed dead in Fast & Furious following an undercover assignment as Brian's informant. She was found by Shaw, and suffers amnesia. She is working alongside his crew, but later chooses to remain with Dom and his team.
 * Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto, Dom's sister, a former member of his team, and Brian's girlfriend and mother of his child.
 * Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce, a former criminal from Barstow and Brian's childhood friend, as well as a member of Dom's team.
 * Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as Tej Parker, an ex-street racer and mechanic, as well as Brian and Roman's friend who was introduced in Miami, also a member of Dom's team.
 * Sung Kang as Han Seoul-Oh, a professional street racer and Dom's former business partner in the Dominican Republic, also a member of his team. He is in a relationship with Gisele.
 * Gal Gadot as Gisele Yashar, a former Mossad agent who previously worked as a liaison for Braga and aided Dom and Brian in capturing him by revealing his hideout in Mexico. She has since become one of the members on Dom's team. She is also in a relationship with Han and reveals she also saved Letty during the confrontation by one of Braga's henchmen.
 * Luke Evans as Owen Shaw, a former British SAS soldier who leads a group of skilled mercenaries to steal high-tech devices worth billions on the black market. He hijacked a military convoy, which brings him into conflict with Dom.
 * Gina Carano as Riley Hicks, a DSS agent who partners up with Hobbs to take down Shaw's mercenaries. She is later revealed to be Shaw's double agent who secretly helps Shaw and his team escape custody during his chase in Spain.
 * John Ortiz as Arturo Braga, an ex-drug lord who was imprisoned by Brian, who is revealed to have a connection to Shaw after his last encounter with Brian.
 * Shea Whigham as Stasiak, a sarcastic FBI agent and Brian's former colleague who was formerly at odds with Brian.
 * Elsa Pataky as Elena Neves, a former Rio police officer who has moved into the United States, since becoming Dom's love interest and later working alongside Hobbs as his new partner in the DSS.
 * David Ajala as Ivory, a member of Shaw's team, who is a lethal killer alongside Jah. While attempting to flee on his motorcycle, he is shot dead by Gisele.
 * Kim Kold as Klaus, a member of Shaw's team who is a body builder and strongman, as well as a hacker at ease.
 * Thure Lindhardt as Firuz, a member of Shaw's team, who works as a mechanic, providing Shaw's team with flip cars and harpoon guns. He is killed in a shootout while trying to kill Gisele and Riley.
 * Joe Taslim as Jah, a member of Shaw's team who is cold-blooded and skilled with martial arts and parkour during his fight with Han and Roman.
 * Clara Paget as Vegh, Shaw's right-hand woman, and a highly trained female assassin in his team.
 * Benjamin Davies as Adolfson, a member of Shaw's team, who acts as a sniper and infiltrator, providing cover for his team while allowing the others to escape.
 * Rita Ora has an uncredited cameo role in the film.
 * Jason Statham appears uncredited in a cameo scene amid the end credits.

Development
In February 2010, Diesel confirmed that production of Fast Five was commencing and also announced that a sixth installment was being planned. In January 2011, producer Neal H. Moritz said more:

"In Vin's and my mind we already know what the sixth movie is, we’ve already been talking about it. Vin and I have had numerous conversations about what that might be. And we’re starting to get serious about it right now. We just finished [Fast Five] like 4 or 5 weeks ago and we just needed a break, and now we’re gonna start focusing on that."

In April 2011 it was confirmed that Chris Morgan had already begun work on a script for a potential sixth film at the behest of Universal Studios. It was also confirmed that Universal intended to transform the series from street-racing action into a series of heist films with car chases in the vein of The Italian Job (1969) and The French Connection (1971), with Fast Five as the transitional movie. Universal chairman Adam Fogelson said:

"The question putting Fast Five and Fast Six together for us was: Can we take it out of being a pure car culture movie and into being a true action franchise in the spirit of those great heist films made 10 or 15 years ago?"

Fogelson said that the racing aspect had put a "ceiling" on the number of people willing to see films in the series, and that, by turning it into a series where car driving ability is just one aspect of the film, he hoped to increase the series' audience. On Johnson's character, Fogelson added "[Johnson] also wants to appear in and be integral to the action in Fast Six."

On June 24, 2011, Universal Pictures announced that the anticipated sequel was scheduled for release on May 24, 2013. Moritz and Diesel returned as producers and Lin returned to direct. In an interview with Box Office, Lin revealed that he had, after discussions with Diesel, storyboarded, previsualized and edited a twelve-minute finale for Fast Six before filming was completed on Fast Five. Lin said he shot the footage as he was unsure at the time if there would be a sequel or if he would be able to direct it, but he wanted to have input on how any sequel would end. On October 21, 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that Universal was considering filming two sequels—Fast Six and Fast Seven—back to back with a single story running through both films; both written by Morgan and directed by Lin. On December 20, 2011, Diesel stated that Fast Six would be split into two parts, with writing for the two films occurring simultaneously. On the decision, Diesel said:

"We have to pay off this story, we have to service all of these character relationships, and when we started mapping all that out it just went beyond 110 pages ... The studio said, 'You can't fit all that story in one damn movie!'"

On April 23, 2012, it was announced that mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano was in negotiations to play a member of Hobbs' team. On May 1, 2012, Michelle Rodriguez was confirmed to be reprising her role as Letty Ortiz, and it was announced that Welsh actor Luke Evans had been offered a role as a villain. Evans was confirmed to join the cast on May 9, 2012, portraying the leader of a heist gang. On July 27, 2012, Joe Taslim was confirmed to appear as a villain, Jah. On February 15, 2012, Johnson confirmed that Fast Six would begin filming in May 2012, with some of the production to take place in the United Kingdom and Germany. Johnson stated that the two intended sequels would no longer be filmed simultaneously because of weather issues in filming locations, and that production on Fast Seven would only begin after the completion of Fast Six. However, filming did not officially begin until July 30, 2012. In February 2013, it was confirmed that the film would be titled Fast & Furious 6.

Principal photography
Filming began on July 30, 2012, in London, England, and Shepperton Studios in Surrey. While Fast & Furious 6 became only the third production to be allowed to film in Piccadilly Circus (a scene involving Diesel and Rodriguez drag racing), Lin was unable to obtain permission to shoot an elaborate action sequence there involving an exploding oil tanker, and so a replica of the landmark was built at Shepperton. The production were given only two minutes every hour to shut down the area for filming. Stunt and car chase scenes began filming on location in Glasgow, Scotland on August 29, 2012, and were scheduled to conclude on September 16, 2012. The shoot took place entirely at night and involved approximately 250 crew, but none of the central cast. Sets were built on site for the scenes including a large car showroom. Filming was scheduled to take place at the former Royal Air Force base RAF Bentwaters in late August 2012 until early September 2012.

Shooting also occurred on Spain's Canary Islands including the island of Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Filming had been intended to take place in Marseille, France, but was relocated to the islands to take advantage of a larger tax rebate (38%) that was estimated to lower filming costs by $20 million.

On October 11, 2012, Walker suffered an ACL injury during a stunt, forcing the production to film around his scenes until he recovered. A scene involving a plane crash began filming at the former RAF station RAF Bovingdon, Hertfordshire on October 30, 2012, and was scheduled to conclude on November 9. Filming for a car chase scene took place on Dale Street in Liverpool City Centre, and also the Queensway Tunnel over four days in November 2012. Two days of filming were spent at HM Treasury's Government Offices Great George Street, which served as a nightclub.

The final phase of filming took place in Echo Park, Los Angeles beginning on December 1, 2012. The shoot returned the series to the filming location of the original The Fast and the Furious, and required the garage setting of that film to be rebuilt by carpenters. By December 17, 2012, it was reported that filming had concluded. Post-production was heavily condensed; by March 2013, Lin was attempting to complete approximately 18 months' worth of post-production in a 12-week period. Lin was aided by five film editors, specialist teams focused on visual effects and color timing, and sound mixers that required two movie-theater-sized stages alone.

Marketing
The film's first trailer was released during the 2013 Super Bowl on February 3. Among the six film trailers that launched at the event, Fast & Furious 6 generated widespread attention on social media, more than the other films (including Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness) combined according to data collection agency Fizziology. The extended version of the trailer had been viewed over 16 million times by February 17. The trailer's success was partially attributed to the film's stars promoting the trailer on their personal social networks. The Fast and the Furious series marketing attempted to cultivate an online fan base which was also considered to have helped promote the film; the filmmakers responded to fan interaction, conducted an online poll to decide the title of Fast & Furious 6, brought back the character of Letty Ortiz based on fan feedback and encouraged fans to document the film's production with unofficial photos. Universal marketing co-president Michael Moses said: "We’re trying to remove the studio filter as much as possible, which is a little scary because you’re ceding control... But it makes for more authentic and organic interaction with fans." The Super Bowl trailer, titled "Breathe", won two Golden Trailer Awards for Best Action TV Spot and Best Summer Blockbuster 2013 TV Spot, and the marketing campaign received a further three nominations: Summer 2013 Blockbuster Trailer and Best Sound Editing for the "Trailer" trailer, and Best Teaser Poster. A 15-piece clothing line was also produced in partnership with Guess, including T-shirts, jackets, caps and watches.

Continuing their partnership from Fast Five, the Facebook game Car Town by Cie Games and the theater chain Regal Entertainment Group (REG) collaborated with Universal in a cross-media marketing promotion. Car Town allowed players to view the trailer for the film in an REG-branded, in-game drive-in theater. The game also featured missions and locations based on the plot of the film, and allowed players to join forces with Fast & Furious 6 characters. REG offered players of Car Town the ability to purchase tickets in-game via Fandango for films at REG theaters. By buying these tickets in-game, players were given promotional codes which in turn allowed them to unlock a virtual 2013 Dodge Charger SRT8.

Release
The premiere of Fast & Furious 6 took place on May 7, 2013, at the Empire cinema in Leicester Square, London. The film was released in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2013, with the North American release on May 24. While the film is officially titled Fast & Furious 6, its on-screen title card displays the title as simple Furious 6.

Box office
Fast & Furious 6 earned $239 million in North America and $550 million elsewhere for a worldwide total of $789 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $131.5 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues, making it the sixth most profitable release of 2013. Worldwide, it is the sixth highest-grossing 2013 film and the fourth highest-grossing Universal film. On the weekend of June 14–16, 2013, it became the second highest-grossing film in the Fast and the Furious franchise worldwide behind Furious 7, as well as separately in North America and outside North America. Outside North America, it is the highest-grossing film in the Fast and Furious series, the second highest-grossing Universal film and the second highest-grossing 2013 film. In the United Kingdom, the film took $4.4 million during its opening day from 462 screens, the biggest opening day for both The Fast and the Furious franchise and Universal in that market, the second-highest opening of 2013 behind Iron Man 3 ($4.7 million), and the number 1 film of the day with 54% of the market. It finished as the number 1 film of the weekend, taking a total of $13.8 million; this figure made it the biggest opening for the franchise, Universal, a Vin Diesel or Dwayne Johnson film, and the second-biggest opening of 2013 again behind Iron Man 3 ($17.6 million). The film opened in fifty-nine territories the following weekend alongside the North American opening, placing as the number 1 film in each and earning $160.3 million; it set opening-weekend records in the United Arab Emirates, the Middle East, and Argentina (the latter was first surpassed by Monsters University). In China, Fast & Furious 6 opened to $24.1 million, making it Universal's highest-grossing film in the territory. It earned its 66th number 1 opening, earning $23.6 million during its opening weekend, $3 million of which came from IMAX screenings.

In North America, Fast & Furious 6 debuted simultaneously with the comedy The Hangover Part III and the animated feature Epic. It opened for midnight showings on May 23, 2013, in 2,409 theaters. It took $6.5 million, nearly doubling Fast Five ' s midnight gross ($3.8 million) which faced less direct competition. On its opening day, Fast & Furious 6 earned $38.7 million (including midnight earnings) from 3,659 theaters. The film finished the 4-day Memorial Day weekend in first place, taking $117.0 million, which was the fourth-highest 4-day Memorial Day opening. The audience was diverse, with Latinos representing 32%, women 49%, and 57% over the age of 25.

Critical response
Fast & Furious 6 received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 70%, based on 201 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With high-octane humor and terrific action scenes, Fast & Furious 6 builds upon the winning blockbuster formula that made Fast 5 a critical and commercial success." Metacritic gives the film a score of 61 out of 100, based on 39 critics, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was an "A" on a scale of A+ to F.

Home media
Fast & Furious 6 was released in the United Kingdom on DVD and Blu-ray on September 16, 2013, and in Australia on October 3, 2013. In other countries (such as United States), Fast & Furious 6 was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 10, 2013. FX has purchased the rights to air the movie on its network in 2015. Following Walker's death on November 30, 2013, Universal announced that a portion of the profits from the film's North American sales would be donated to Walker's charity Reach Out Worldwide.

Soundtrack
Lucas Vidal composed the musical score for Fast & Furious 6. In addition to Vidal's score, tracks by composer Brian Tyler from the franchise's previous installments are also featured in the film. A soundtrack album to the film was released by Def Jam Recordings on May 21, 2013. It features many electronic and hip hop tracks, including songs by deadmau5, Ludacris (who played Tej Parker), and many others.

Video games
A cooperative racing video game, titled Fast & Furious: Showdown, was released on May 21, 2013. Developed by Firebrand Games and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Nintendo 3DS, the game's story ties into the events in Fast & Furious 6, including bridging the events between the story of the film and those of its predecessor Fast Five, as well as the story of other films in the franchise. It is a Grand Theft Auto-style action game and received mainly negative reviews. A mobile game, Fast & Furious 6: The Game, was developed by Exploding Barrel Games and published by studio Kabam. It was released on May 16, 2013, for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Android devices. The story of Fast & Furious 6: The Game runs parallel to that of Fast & Furious 6, allowing players to race and customize vehicles alongside characters from the film.

Sequel
A sequel, titled Furious 7, was announced in April 2013. Lin would not return to direct the sequel as Universal pursued an accelerated schedule for the film, with a release date scheduled for July 11, 2014, just over a year after the release of Fast & Furious 6. Lin was replaced by director James Wan that same month. After the death of Paul Walker, the release date was postponed to April 3, 2015.