Where to watch The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

Trivia & production notes

• Writer Chris Morgan pitched an original concept where Dominic Toretto travels to Tokyo to learn drifting and solve a murder, but Universal Pictures rejected it in favor of a high school-themed story.
• Both Paul Walker and Vin Diesel turned down roles in the film, with Walker citing studio politics and Diesel being committed to the xXx and Riddick franchises, forcing the studio to order it as a standalone reboot.
• Director Justin Lin initially rejected the project after reading early drafts, calling the script offensive and dated before the producers allowed him to reshape the film himself.
• The production filmed in Tokyo without permits, and the studio secretly hired a stand-in who took the fall when police arrived, spending the night in jail while the actual director went free.
• Vin Diesel agreed to a brief cameo as Dominic Toretto in exchange for Universal giving him full ownership rights to the Riddick franchise instead of taking payment.
• The film was nearly released straight to video due to the absence of major cast members from the first two films, but the studio decided on a theatrical release after test screenings.
• The production used nearly 250 vehicles total, cutting up 25 and destroying over 80 during filming.
• Professional drifters including Keiichi Tsuchiya, Rhys Millen, and Samuel Hübinette were brought in as consultants and stunt performers because Universal's own drivers couldn't drift.
• Street racing sequences were shot in a Los Angeles parking lot using street lights and props to recreate Tokyo, since the production couldn't obtain filming permits in the actual city.
• A yakuza henchman character's missing fingers, a cultural punishment detail, had to be digitally added to address cultural concerns with the depiction.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.