Vin Diesel is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. From "Fast and Furious" to
"xXx" and "Guardians of the Galaxy," here are the films that made big bucks for Vin Diesel.
If you're a big tough action movie star in Hollywood,
you're going to end up doing at least one cutesy kids movie. For Vin Diesel,
his chance to engage with this sacred tradition came with "The Pacifier."
A 2005 kids movie from Disney, "The Pacifier" has now largely been forgotten by general pop culture,
but at the time of its release, it was a juggernaut moneymaker for the Mouse House.
Opening in March 2005, "Pacifier" proved to be one of Diesel's bigger projects as
he tried to make a name for himself beyond Dominic Toretto, Xander Cage, and Riddick.
Released right around spring break, the film proved to be a go-to option for families looking
to get out of the house and watch Diesel try to wrangle a group of mischievous kids.
Filling that sort of need in the marketplace helped "The Pacifier" eventually score a
lifetime $198 million worldwide gross, which was more than three times its $56 million budget.
Though this film provided Diesel's first time operating in the world of family comedies,
the reliable formula of action stars flabbergasted by precocious youngsters had struck gold again.
"The Fast and the Furious" was not meant to be a blockbuster. It was a classic case of
counterprogramming, a smaller crime thriller carrying a budget of $38 million and no movie
stars meant to play opposite big summer 2001 heavyweights like Angelina Jolie's
first "Tomb Raider" movie. But then a funny thing happened on the way to the movie theater:
audiences turned out for "The Fast and the Furious," in droves.
"Ask any racer, any real racer. It don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning's winning."
Shattering all expectations, "Furious" revved up its engine to the eventual tune
of $206.4 million worldwide. In a summer populated by big-budget projects starring
predominantly white lead characters, "The Fast and the Furious" and its diverse cast
of street-racers allowed moviegoers of color the rare chance to see people like
themselves on the big screen in a piece of escapist entertainment. In the end,
this modest-minded action flick that got its title from a forgotten '50s Roger Corman film would
end up spawning a cottage industry of spin-offs, rip-offs and sequels that continues to this day.
Back in the early 2000s, extreme sports were edgy and cool — and so was Vin Diesel.
On paper, putting them together was a foolproof way to make some easy cash at the box office;
as it turned out, financial reality exceeded expectations.
"xXx" hit theaters just a year after "The Fast and the Furious" had turned Diesel into a box office
force, reimagining him as James Bond for the X Games generation.
Grossing $267.2 million worldwide, "xXx" owed a lot of its success to
being Diesel's first star vehicle right after "Furious" had taken pop culture by storm.
Marketing that emphasized the spectacle of Diesel engaging in all kinds of ridiculous
extreme sports stunts also proved effective in luring in moviegoers.
The box office gross of Diesel's extreme adventure helped give birth
to a new franchise Diesel famously abandoned for its second installment,
only to return triumphantly for its third. Early 2000s culture got smashed into one movie with
"xXx," and the resulting box office was as extreme as any gnarly skateboarding trick.
After 15 years, extreme Diesel was back with 2017's "Return of Xander Cage."
Sure, he had technically died off-screen in "xXx:
State of the Union," but would death really stop an actor like Vin Diesel?
In many ways, Diesel's homecoming didn't mean much to domestic audiences. The film opened to
just $20 million stateside, above the debuts of fellow post-2010 Diesel vehicles like "Riddick"
and "The Last Witch Hunter," but not great for a movie that cost $85 million to make.
Where "The Return of Xander Cage" truly thrived was overseas, where the film ended up making
$301.4 million. Thanks to those lucrative international territories, Xander Cage had
managed to produce another profitable adventure as well as the biggest entry worldwide in the
"xXx" franchise so far. It had taken quite some time for the character to return,
but Diesel proved here that there was still plenty of appeal in the Xander Cage character.
After two sequels that both failed to get Vin Diesel and Paul Walker back together,
not to mention "Tokyo Drift" hitting a lower box office haul than the preceding films,
it looked like the "Fast & The Furious" series was headed for the direct-to-DVD
bin. However, 2009's "Fast & Furious" managed to reunite all of the stars
of the original movie for the first time since it began, and it paid off.
The feature smashed onto the box office scene with a $70.5 million domestic opening weekend,
significantly ahead of expectations and, at that point in time, by far the biggest debut
for a movie opening in April. In the span of one weekend, the "Fast & Furious" franchise had
gone from being on life support to recharged and ready to roll. By the time its theatrical
run was finished, "Fast & Furious" had managed an impressive $359.3 million worldwide gross.
Believe it or not, there was once a time when a movie featuring Vin
Diesel did not plaster the man's name all over its marketing materials.
Such was the case with "Saving Private Ryan," a Steven Spielberg hit that introduced Diesel
to much of the world in the sixth-billed role of Private First Class Adrian Caparzo.
"Saving Private Ryan" wasn't just a hit by the standards of grim dramas released in the summer;
it was a smash by any metric of box office success. Grossing $485 million,
"Ryan" became that rare massive hit equally appealing to general moviegoers and award
season voters alike. It also proved to be the last R-rated movie to top
the yearly domestic box office until "American Sniper" arrived in 2014.
Diesel's role was relatively small and not an integral part of the film's success,
but it was the first time the then-unknown actor was associated with a studio film,
and it was quite an introduction to mainstream audiences.
To get to the fifth installment in a series, you must be doing something right at the box office.
Still, prior to "Fast Five," the "Fast & Furious" movies hadn't been as big as,
say, "Star Wars" or "Spider-Man" films worldwide.
"Fast Five" was the injection of superpowered box office that this franchise had been looking for.
The feature grossed an enormous $630.1 million worldwide,
a 75 percent increase over the worldwide gross of "Fast & Furious." It also redefined the kind of
box office success that movies released in April could be expected to deliver.
How did "Fast Five" manage to revitalize a franchise an entire decade into its existence?
The solution turned out to be upgrading certain parts of the "Fast & Furious" vehicle.
Bringing all the action to Brazil rather than the American settings of many of the previous
films also helped to expand its overseas appeal, as did shifting to larger-scale
stunt work and a heist-movie tone. It also didn't hurt to have Dwayne Johnson around.
"The Fast and the Furious" will forever be Vin Diesel's signature franchise,
and with "Fast Five," the franchise hit a new high at the worldwide box office.
With "Guardians of the Galaxy," Vin Diesel finally stepped into a Marvel Comics adaptation.
However, unlike the majority of his film roles,
Diesel would not be visible on screen in "Guardians." Instead, he would be providing
voicework for the titular team's resident tree-alien Groot, who only says the words:
"I am Groot".
Much like "The Iron Giant," Diesel's deep baritone proved perfect for the character, and Groot would
offer Diesel the chance to debut the character in one of the most lucrative movies of his career.
Hitting movie theaters at the start of August 2014, "Guardians of the Galaxy" annihilated all
expectations with a gargantuan $333.7 million domestic gross and a worldwide sum of $770.8
million. These unknown galactic superheroes turned into household names overnight,
and the voicework of Diesel was a key reason why Groot has become so beloved by the general public.
Much as he did with his "Fast & Furious" movies, Diesel saw the value of appearing in a larger
ensemble cast rather than just embracing a one-man show just for himself. By appearing alongside
various other cosmic Marvel weirdos, Diesel secured one of his highest-grossing movies ever.
With "Fast & Furious 6," the "Furious" franchise wasn't just going to London.
It was also returning to the summertime, a domain where the first three entries premiered.
After years of spring openings, the franchise would be taking on blockbuster titans,
and a question lingered: Would it be able to continue its box office momentum?
Turns out, there was no need to be concerned. Even while opening in a month that included "Iron Man
3" and "Star Trek Into Darkness," "Fast & Furious 6" proved a massive force to be reckoned with at
the box office. Grossing $789.3 million worldwide, the flick more than doubled the worldwide gross
of "Fast & Furious" from just four years prior. Rather than harming the series, "Fast & Furious
6" thrived in a summertime home. As a result, Vin Diesel's box office notoriety also flourished,
with this movie becoming his first feature to ever crack $700 million worldwide.
In the summer of 2014, the Guardians of the Galaxy entered the box office as unknowns,
a bunch of D-list comic book characters whose ability to pull in moviegoers was in question.
One smash sleeper hit later, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" entered the summer of
2017 marketplace as a returning hero. Now, everyone knew who Star-Lord and Groot were,
and D-list comic book fixtures had become A-list movie stars.
Grossing $869.1 million worldwide, "Vol. 2" improved on its predecessor's worldwide box
office gross and cemented that these characters were no one-movie flukes,
even with a new version of Groot on the team.
The adorable Baby Groot, still voiced by Diesel, was everywhere on toys,
posters and TV spots for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." Capturing the hearts of
moviegoers before the movie even opened, Diesel's Baby Groot helped to promise moviegoers that
they wouldn't just be getting the first "Guardians" again with this new sequel.
It's no wonder, then, that "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" scored so much success at the
box office that it became Diesel's biggest non-"Fast & Furious" movie of all-time.
With the 2017 entry "The Fate of the Furious," a "Furious" movie made less
than its predecessor for the first time since "Tokyo Drift" in 2006.
Although not an ideal turn of events, it was inevitable given that this film was
following up on "Furious 7," which had taken the franchise to new, astronomical box office
heights. It was unreasonable to expect Vin Diesel's signature franchise to keep
topping itself worldwide, but "Fate" still managed to do just fine on its own merits.
Grossing $1.2 billion worldwide, "The Fate of the Furious" was the second-biggest entry in
the franchise by a massive margin. Though Diesel's Furious movies were no longer
constantly one-upping each other in terms of box office hauls, "Fate" showed that this
series could still easily shift things into high gear and deliver impressive box office numbers.
Though it was the seventh entry in the "Furious" saga,
"Furious 7" was far from a routine movie in the franchise. For one thing,
this was the first entry in the series since "2 Fast 2 Furious" to not be directed by Justin Lin,
with James Wan instead sitting in the director's chair. Even more notably, though, this would be
the last "Furious" title to feature Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner. After Walker's tragic death in a
car accident in November 2013, the film was reworked to become a tribute to his memory.
The headlines of this being Walker's final movie lingered over the film's release, and "Furious 7"
showed fans were eager to see him one last time. The film far exceeded the normal box office for
a "Furious" movie in numerous countries around the world, and when the dust had settled, the film had
more than doubled the worldwide gross of "Fast & Furious 6" to score $1.563 billion worldwide.
Vin Diesel's highest-worldwide-grossing movie ever
went far beyond anyone's expectations — allowing the leading man to pay tribute
one last time to a friend and co-star who had helped define his exceptional career.
"It's never goodbye."
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