Fast & Furious Movies in Chronological Order

The Fast & Furious timeline is famously not the same as the release order, especially because The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift was released third but takes place much later. This complete chronological list covers the theatrical movies plus the two official short films that bridge major story gaps, so you can watch the saga as the characters experience it.

1The Fast and the Furious (2001)

Director/Creator: Rob Cohen | Runtime: 106 minutes | Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster

Chronologically, the saga begins in Los Angeles with undercover LAPD officer Brian O’Conner infiltrating Dominic Toretto’s street-racing crew while investigating truck hijackings. The movie is a grounded crime thriller built around quarter-mile races, tuna sandwiches, NOS, and family loyalty, and it established the emotional core that still drives the franchise. If you want the official franchise framing, Universal’s official Fast Saga hub treats this film as the foundation of Dom and Brian’s long-running story.

2The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

Director/Creator: Philip G. Atwell | Runtime: 6 minutes | Starring: Paul Walker

This official short film picks up immediately after Brian lets Dom escape at the end of the first movie. With almost no dialogue, it shows Brian leaving Los Angeles, being hunted by law enforcement, winning street races for cash, and eventually making his way to Miami. It is short, but it explains why Brian is no longer a cop when 2 Fast 2 Furious begins.

32 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

Director/Creator: John Singleton | Runtime: 107 minutes | Starring: Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, Ludacris, Cole Hauser

Brian is now an ex-cop in Miami, where he is pulled into a federal operation against drug lord Carter Verone and reunites with childhood friend Roman Pearce. This is the movie that introduces Roman and Tej Parker, two characters who later become central members of Dom’s crew. It stands out for its bright Miami look, neon street-race culture, and the first big expansion of the franchise beyond Los Angeles.

4Los Bandoleros (2009)

Director/Creator: Vin Diesel | Runtime: 20 minutes | Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Sung Kang, Tego Calderón, Don Omar

Los Bandoleros is the second official short film and works as a direct prelude to Fast & Furious. Set in the Dominican Republic, it shows Dom living outside the United States, reconnecting with Letty, and building a crew that includes Han, Tego, and Rico. It matters because it fills in the emotional and logistical gap between Dom’s escape in the first film and the fuel-tanker job that opens the fourth movie.

5Fast & Furious (2009)

Director/Creator: Justin Lin | Runtime: 107 minutes | Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Gal Gadot, John Ortiz

Fast & Furious reunites the original core cast and brings Brian back into Dom’s orbit after Letty is apparently killed while working undercover. The story follows Dom and Brian as they target drug trafficker Arturo Braga, introducing Gisele and setting up the team-based structure of the later films. This is also where the franchise starts shifting from street-racing crime drama toward international action while still keeping the family theme front and center.

6Fast Five (2011)

Director/Creator: Justin Lin | Runtime: 130 minutes | Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot

After Brian and Mia break Dom out of custody, the crew flees to Rio de Janeiro and plans a $100 million heist against corrupt businessman Hernan Reyes. Fast Five is the franchise’s major turning point: it adds Luke Hobbs, reunites characters from earlier movies, and moves the series into large-scale heist-action territory. Its reputation as the saga’s reinvention is so strong that Fast Five’s production history is often cited as the moment the series stopped being only about street racing and became a global blockbuster machine.

7Fast & Furious 6 (2013)

Director/Creator: Justin Lin | Runtime: 130 minutes | Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Luke Evans, Gina Carano

Hobbs recruits Dom’s crew to stop Owen Shaw, a former special forces operative assembling a military-grade device, and the mission becomes personal when Dom learns Letty is alive but suffering from amnesia. This entry raises the stakes with tanks, planes, and a villain team that mirrors Dom’s family. The mid-credits scene is crucial because it reveals that Han’s crash in Tokyo was caused by Deckard Shaw, placing Tokyo Drift after this movie in the timeline.

8The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

Director/Creator: Justin Lin | Runtime: 104 minutes | Starring: Lucas Black, Sung Kang, Bow Wow, Nathalie Kelley, Brian Tee

Although it was released in 2006, Tokyo Drift takes place after Fast & Furious 6 because Han is alive in the prequel-period films and dies here in Tokyo. The story follows Sean Boswell, a troubled American teenager who learns drifting under Han’s mentorship while clashing with the local Yakuza-linked racing scene. It stands out for giving the franchise a new visual language, a Japanese street-racing identity, and the first major hint that Han’s death was more complicated than it looked.

9Furious 7 (2015)

Director/Creator: James Wan | Runtime: 137 minutes | Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Kurt Russell, Nathalie Emmanuel

Furious 7 picks up after Tokyo Drift, with Deckard Shaw hunting Dom’s crew in revenge for what happened to his brother Owen. The movie introduces Mr. Nobody and Ramsey, sends cars between skyscrapers and out of aircraft, and turns the franchise fully into spy-action spectacle. It is also the emotional farewell to Paul Walker, whose death was covered globally, including in BBC reporting on Paul Walker, and the final beach-road goodbye to Brian remains one of the series’ defining moments.

10The Fate of the Furious (2017)

Director/Creator: F. Gary Gray | Runtime: 136 minutes | Starring: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell, Nathalie Emmanuel

With Brian retired from the action, The Fate of the Furious tests Dom’s loyalty when cyberterrorist Cipher blackmails him into betraying his family. The story expands the mythology around Elena, Dom’s son, and Cipher’s long game, while also moving Hobbs and Deckard Shaw from enemies toward reluctant allies. Its submarine chase, zombie-car sequence, and villainous Charlize Theron performance underline just how far the saga has traveled from street racing.

11Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

Director/Creator: David Leitch | Runtime: 137 minutes | Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Helen Mirren

This spin-off takes place after The Fate of the Furious and follows Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw as they team up to protect Hattie Shaw from Brixton Lore and the techno-terrorist organization Eteon. It is less about Dom’s family and more about buddy-comedy banter, super-soldier action, and the expanded world of Fast operatives beyond the main crew. The movie matters chronologically because it develops Hobbs and Shaw’s partnership before the main saga continues with F9 and Fast X.

12F9: The Fast Saga (2021)

Director/Creator: Justin Lin | Runtime: 143 minutes | Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Charlize Theron

F9 brings Dom’s estranged brother Jakob Toretto into the story and reveals more about the death of Dom’s father, giving the franchise its deepest dive into Toretto family history. It also brings Han back, explaining that Mr. Nobody helped fake his death, and it finally sends Roman and Tej into space in a modified Pontiac Fiero. The film’s scale is reflected in Universal Pictures’ official F9 page, which positions it as a central chapter in the modern Fast Saga rather than a side adventure.

13Fast X (2023)

Director/Creator: Louis Leterrier | Runtime: 141 minutes | Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Momoa, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, John Cena, Charlize Theron

Fast X brings the timeline back to the consequences of Fast Five by introducing Dante Reyes, the flamboyant and vengeful son of Rio villain Hernan Reyes. Dante targets Dom’s entire family, turning old victories into present-day liabilities and ending the film on a major cliffhanger involving Dom, Little Brian, Letty, Cipher, Hobbs, and several scattered crew members. The movie continued the franchise’s blockbuster run, with Reuters reporting on Fast X’s box office opening as the saga moved toward its planned endgame.

Watched chronologically, the Fast & Furious saga becomes a surprisingly connected story about found family, loyalty, betrayal, and escalating consequences. The biggest timeline trick is simple: watch Tokyo Drift after Fast & Furious 6, include the two official shorts if you want the full bridge between chapters, and treat Hobbs & Shaw as the spin-off that fits between The Fate of the Furious and F9.