Fast & Furious Timeline Information

[cuda]

Does anybody have any links to releases from the producers/writers/actors that say what the official movie timeline is? All I've been able to find are forum comments from people claiming someone said it without specifically linking the video or article, newspaper articles listing a timeline without saying who told them, and the Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift wikipedia page, which says F&F:TD takes place AFTER all movies currently released without a reference link to where they got that information.

I'm frustrated. Did I just miss an article somewhere? Are we just going to have to hope the sixth movie explains everything? Help!

EDIT(05/02): Got one! amberdark found an interview with Justin Lin that includes a nice solid explanation on the timeline. ...At least as solid as Justin ever gets on the subject. The article was published in January 2011, and is totally non-spoilery for Fast Five.

Click here to read.

Comments

[facetofcathy]

I was just looking this info up for the Fanlore page, and all I found were fans on forums and the IMDB trivia page saying that the timeline is determined by plot points in the films. The same thing Wikipedia says uncited.

I've not seen Tokyo Drift, but my understanding is that the plot of the film demands that it be seen as taking place after Fast Five, but I don't know if the film itself supports the idea that it is set in the future.

[cuda]

Yeah, that's the thing - I'm having a tough time finding anything official, and the movies never seem to have any kind of date stamp on the events. There's a lot of things that make sense pointing to Tokyo Drift taking place after Fast 5, but as far as I can see, it's not explicitly clear.

[cuda]

In case you still need a link to an article for the Fanlore page, amberdark found an interview with Justin Lin.

[facetofcathy]

Oh, thanks very much for that.

[delibby]

Since a character who dies in Tokyo Drift is in 4 and 5, they pretty much have to take place before TD. And in both, he mentions going to Tokyo, but he hasn't gotten there yet.

[cuda]

Considering how characters in this series have a tendency to show up again after we're pretty sure they're dead, his comments about Tokyo are a more convincing argument for ordering the films that way than his death in TD. *grin*

I don't disagree with you, I think that's one of the most solid explanations, but I think it's at least plausible enough that Han could have survived his accident to appear in Fast Five that other fans are confused about the timeline. I found enough people wondering the same thing in my search for official confirmation to expect at least one interview with the crew to handle it.

[amberdark]

Here is a link to an interview with the director, Justin Lin. Jan 26, 2011 interview He directed both Tokyo Drift and FF 4 as well as this new one.

There are two interview questions which specifically address the timeline issue. Quote from the second one, in part: "Does it feel in a way that you are making prequels to “Tokyo Drift” with this new series of films?
Lin:In a sense yes, I think to answer that question."

There are a lot of OTHER really nice pieces of information there as well. It's a great, meaty interview and I recommend anyone interested in the FF movies give it a read.

[cuda]

Thank you! That's exactly what I was looking for! You're right, it's an awesome interview. We have such a well-spoken director.