During Paul Walker’s brief absence from Fast & Furious, he starred in Into the Blue — and it could’ve been the actor’s replacement action-adventure franchise. After playing Brian O’Conner in The Fast and the Furious and its first sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Walker was missing from the threequel, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. He only returned to the role of Brian in 2009’s soft reboot, simply titled Fast & Furious, which moved away from the series’ focus on street racing and turned it into a more straightforward action movie franchise.
While Brian is undoubtedly Walker’s most iconic character, he had a very respectable career outside the Fast & Furious franchise, too. He played a notorious bank robber in the heist movie Takers, he played a parole breaker in the car chase movie Vehicle 19, and he played a low-level mafioso in the neo-noir thriller Running Scared. One of Walker’s starring vehicles, Into the Blue, was a missed opportunity to headline a new franchise. During his Fast & Furious hiatus, Into the Blue could’ve launched a Walker-centric franchise to replace it.
Into The Blue Could've Been Paul Walker's New Fast & Furious
It Does For Treasure Hunters What Fast & Furious Did For Street Racers
In 2005, Walker co-starred with Jessica Alba, Scott Caan, and Josh Brolin in the action thriller Into the Blue. The plot revolves around a group of divers who go on a treasure hunt to find a sunken plane full of illegal cargo. Into the Blue arrived in theaters during Walker’s Fast & Furious hiatus. It came out a year before Tokyo Drift and four years before Walker would finally reprise his role as Brian in the fourth Fast & Furious film. In theory, it could’ve been the start of a new franchise to replace Fast & Furious on Walker’s schedule.
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Into the Bluecombines the pulpy sense of adventure of the Indiana Jones franchise with the high-octane bombast and delightfully far-fetched absurdity of the Fast & Furious franchise. Each movie could’ve followed the divers on a different underwater hunt for a different sunken treasure. They could’ve gone to a sunken pirate ship in search of lost gold. They could’ve gone to the wreckage of the Titanic looking for wealthy passengers’ antique jewelry. This property had endless possibilities, but it failed to recoup its production budget at the box office, grossing $46,117,696 against a $50 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).
Why Paul Walker Returned To Fast & Furious After Missing Tokyo Drift
The Studio Decided To Take The Franchise In A New Direction (Which Was Short-Lived)
Walker revealed that Brian’s absence from Tokyo Drift was a studio decision. After Vin Diesel turned down their offer to appear in the third Fast & Furious film, the studio wanted to take the franchise in a completely different direction. Although Walker, unlike Diesel, was willing to reprise his role after starring in the first two movies, the studio bosses wanted to pivot to a spin-off mostly disconnected from the previous films. Tokyo Drift revolves around a brand-new character — Sean Boswell, played by Lucas Black — but he proved to be nowhere near as popular as Brian or Dom Toretto.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift has a “ rotten ” critics’ score of just 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, although it has a warmer audience score of 69%.
After Tokyo Drift became the lowest-grossing installment in the Fast & Furious franchise and received mixed reviews from critics, the studio decided to go back to the original direction. The next movie, Fast & Furious, shifted away from street racing, but it brought back Brian, Dom, and the rest of the original crew. The only real connection to Tokyo Drift was Han, whose character proved to be lovable enough to join the main cast. Any bad blood between Walker and the studio that rejected him for Tokyo Drift was quickly forgotten about as he reclaimed his place as franchise star.
Into The Blue Got A Sequel (But Without Paul Walker & Jessica Alba)
Into The Blue 2: The Reef Was Released Direct To DVD In 2009
While Into the Blue didn’t make enough at the box office to launch a blockbuster franchise and Walker would eventually return to Fast & Furious, Into the Blue did eventually get a standalone sequel. Into the Blue 2: The Reef was released direct to DVD in 2009. None of the original actors returned, including Walker, so the sequel’s only connection to its predecessor is its title and a similar storyline. It revolves around a team of divers who go searching for Columbus’ hidden treasure under the sea.
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The sequel was directed by Stephen Herek, who’s best known for helming classic comedies like The Mighty Ducks, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead. Since Walker’s charisma was the only reason Into the Blue worked on any level, the sequel was pretty disappointing. But it did prove that Into the Blue had the potential to be a great action movie franchise like Fast & Furious.
Source: Box Office Mojo
Fast & Furious
The Fast & Furious franchise revs through the adrenaline-fueled lives of Dominic Toretto and his crew of street racers turned global heroes. From the neon-lit streets of Los Angeles to the bustling cities and remote outposts worldwide, they take on high-stakes heists, espionage, and the underground world of street racing. Bound by loyalty and driven by the need for speed, they confront mercenaries, corrupt officials, and personal vendettas all in the name of their found family.
English (US) ·