2 Fast 2 Furious

Plans to make a sequel came about after the box office success of The Fast and the Furious,[7] which grossed over $200 million worldwide.[4] 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.[7]

The screenplay was written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, along with Gary Scott Thompson (the co-writer from the first film).[8] 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.[9] Singleton credited Top Gun as a major influence for the film, particularly with regard to the action sequences.[10]

Paul Walker returned as Brian O'Conner in 2 Fast 2 Furious.

Vin Diesel was offered $25 million to return in the sequel as Dominic Toretto.[5] 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.[11] 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."[5] 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."[11]

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.[12] 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.[6] Bridges would later rise to prominence for appearing in the film and star in later films such as Crash and Hustle & Flow.[13] Additional cast also included Cole Hauser as key villain Carter Verone, who appeared in Singleton's Higher Learning; Eva Mendes as undercover agent Monica Fuentes; and Devon Aoki as Suki, the sole female driver in the film.[7]

Principal photography began in the fall of 2002,[6] and Matthew F. Leonetti served as the director of photography.[14] Filming was done mostly in various parts of South Florida such as Miami Beach, Seven Mile Bridge, and Homestead Air Reserve Base.[7][15] Hauser's character's mansion was shot in Coral Gables, in a house owned by Sylvester Stallone.[7]

A car enthusiast himself,[7] Walker drove a Nissan Skyline GT-R model R34 borrowed from the film's Technical Advisor, Craig Lieberman, in the film's opening scenes.[16] Aoki did not have a driver's license or any driving experience prior to the film's production, and took driving lessons during filming;[17] she drove a pink 2001 Honda S2000 AP1 in the film.[16] 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.[16]

The musical score was composed by David Arnold. The soundtrack was released on May 27, 2003 on Def Jam Recordings, the same record label that Ludacris was signed to.

2 Fast 2 Furious earned $52.1 million in its U.S. opening in 3,408 theaters, ranking first for the weekend, taking the number #1 spot off of Finding Nemo. It went on to score the fourth-highest June opening weekend, behind Batman Forever, Scooby Doo and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.[18] 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 domestically. 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.[3]

On Rotten Tomatoes, 2 Fast 2 Furious has an approval rating of 36% based on 160 reviews and an average rating of 4.75/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Beautiful people and beautiful cars in a movie that won't tax the brain cells."[19] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on reviews from 36 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[20] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on scale of A+ to F.[21]

Todd McCarthy of Variety magazine wrote: "While this John Singleton-directed sequel provides a breezy enough joyride, it lacks the unassuming freshness and appealing neighborhood feel of the economy-priced original."[22] Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club wrote: "Singleton abandons the underground racing subculture that gave the first film its allure, relying instead on lazy thriller plotting that's only a bag of donuts and a freeze-frame away from the average TV cop show."[23] USA Today's Mike Clark gave film 2 out of 4, and wrote "The movie is all about racing, and character be damned, though the still dazed-looking Walker and Tyrese finally get a little rapport going after a worn-out story's very rocky start." He concludes "Lack of pretension helps the viewer get over the fact that this is just another retread. "[24] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 and said, "It doesn't have a brain in its head, but it's made with skill and style and, boy, it is fast and furious."[25] In 2018, Derek Lawrence of the Entertainment Weekly called it "the forgotten Fast and Furious gem" and praised the chemistry between Walker and Gibson and John Singleton's direction.[26] In 2019, Bilge Eberi of Vulture also praised the movie especially Singleton’s direction.[27]