Justin Lin's sixth Fast & Furious film built its most famous sequence around a Dodge Charger fired through the nose of a cargo plane, and it earned $788.7 million worldwide.
Fast & Furious 6 is a 2013 car-stunt film in which Dom and Brian are offered pardons to catch a former SAS officer. It is known for practical stunts, including a Dodge Charger that breaks through a cargo plane. Its worldwide gross was $788.7 million.
Justin Lin directed this 2013 picture from a script by Chris Morgan. It is the sixth instalment in the franchise and the sequel to Fast Five (2011). Its best-known sequence sees a Dodge Charger fired through the nose of a cargo plane. The film earned $788.7 million worldwide.
What is Fast & Furious 6 about?
Dom, Brian and their team are offered pardons if they help Hobbs catch Owen Shaw, an ex-British SAS major who runs a mercenary group. Dom's former lover Letty is a member of Owen's group.
A sixth film built on heist logic, a Charger that breaks through a plane and a box office that proved the series could travel.
How does the plot unfold?
Hobbs shows Dom a photo of Letty to recruit him. Owen is building an electromagnetic pulse weapon called Nightshade, and his crew stages a heist at an Interpol building in London. Owen flees in a custom car with Dom's crew in pursuit, and Letty is revealed to be amnesiac after her accident.
Dom challenges Letty to a street race and afterwards returns her cross necklace, but she stays with Owen. Owen's crew assaults a military convoy carrying the chip needed to finish Nightshade. Brian and Roman flip Owen's tank, and Dom saves Letty from being thrown from it.
Mia is kidnapped by Owen's henchmen, and Hobbs is forced to release Owen. Owen's crew then boards a moving Antonov An-124, where Brian rescues Mia. Dom's team tethers the plane to their vehicles to hold it down, and Dom drives a Charger out of the flaming wreck.
Dom gives the computer chip to Hobbs to secure their pardons. The mid-credits scene shows Han broadsided by a Mercedes-Benz W140 in Tokyo, and the driver leaves Letty's cross necklace and calls Dom.
Which cars and stunts made the film?
Fast & Furious 6 relied mainly on practical stunt work, which required specially designed vehicles. Two vehicles stand out: Owen's Flip Car and the Charger that crashes through the plane. The table sets out the main figures.
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Owen's Flip Car | Low, formula-style racer with a catapult ramp on its front |
| Plane sequence | Dodge Charger fired through the nose by a pneumatic cannon |
| Tank scene | Practical run over about 250 cars on a Spanish highway |
| Tenerife highway | Three miles long, digitally cleaned up |
| Runway needed | 29.56 km (18.37 miles), estimated up to 46.40 km (28.83 miles) |
| Longest paved runway then | Qamdo Bamda Airport, 5.50 km (3.42 miles) |
| Plane visual effects | Over 350 VFX artists at Double Negative |
Lin conceived the plane stunt while producing Fast & Furious in 2009. The team built plane sets, including a full-size replica fuselage with wheels, and more than 200 crew members worked on the scene.
Over 350 VFX artists at Double Negative completed the plane sequence. A typical shot of the craft's destruction could take more than 100 man-days to finish.
Why did Universal change the series' direction?
Universal wanted to move the series away from street racing and towards heist films with car chases, with Fast Five as the transitional movie. The studio's chairman, Adam Fogelson, argued that the racing had put a ceiling on the audience, and that a broader action story could widen it.
Fogelson's view was that driving should be one element of the film rather than the whole of it.
Who joins the cast?
Vin Diesel and Paul Walker lead the cast as Dom and Brian, joined by Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano and Luke Evans. John Ortiz and Shea Whigham reprise their roles from the earlier film.
Gina Carano plays a member of Hobbs's team, and her fight with Rodriguez was choreographed to look brutal but realistic rather than cartoonish.
Jason Statham has an uncredited cameo as Deckard Shaw in the mid-credits scene, which is set after the main story.
How was Fast & Furious 6 developed?
A sixth film was planned as early as February 2010, before Fast Five was made. Morgan began the screenplay before April 2011, and Universal aimed to turn the series into heist films with car chases, treating Fast Five as the transitional film.
Diesel said the story needed two films, and the studio objected. Lin had already storyboarded a twelve-minute finale before Fast Five wrapped.
Johnson said in February 2012 that filming would start in May 2012, partly in the United Kingdom and Germany, and that the two sequels would no longer be filmed together because of weather at the locations. Release was announced for May 24, 2013, on June 24, 2011. Filming was planned for May 2012 but began on July 30, 2012, and the title Fast & Furious 6 was confirmed in February 2013.
Lin shot the twelve-minute finale footage before Fast Five was complete, because he was unsure whether a sequel would happen or whether he would direct it. He wanted a say in how any sequel would end.
Production timeline
- February 2010: A sixth film is first planned.
- April 2011: Work on the screenplay is confirmed.
- June 24, 2011: Universal sets a May 24, 2013 release.
- July 30, 2012: Principal photography begins.
- August 29, 2012: Glasgow stunt filming starts.
- October 11, 2012: Walker is injured in a stunt.
- December 1, 2012: The final phase starts in Echo Park.
- February 2013: The title Fast & Furious 6 is confirmed.
- May 7, 2013: The London premiere takes place.
- November 30, 2013: Paul Walker dies in a car crash.
Principal photography and locations
Principal photography began on July 30, 2012, in London and at Shepperton Studios. Production had only two minutes every hour to shut down the area for filming, and the film was only the third production allowed to film at Piccadilly Circus, where a replica of the landmark was built at Shepperton.
Glasgow stunt scenes were filmed from August 29, 2012, almost entirely at night, with about 250 crew and none of the central cast. Filming had been intended for Marseille, France, but the Canary Islands, including Tenerife, offered a 38% tax rebate, which was estimated to lower costs by $20 million.
Walker suffered an ACL injury during a stunt on October 11, 2012, and the production filmed around his scenes until he recovered. The plane-crash scene was filmed at RAF Bovingdon from October 30, 2012, and the final phase took place in Echo Park, Los Angeles, from December 1, 2012.
Post-production had to fit about 18 months of work into 12 weeks.
How were the fights and stunts designed?
Stunt women performed the stairwell fall in the London Underground fight, while Rodriguez and Carano rehearsed their choreography for two months. Fight choreographer Olivier Schneider aimed for brutal but realistic action.
Owen's Flip Car was built to drive head first into other vehicles and flip them. It was a low, formula-style racer with a catapult ramp on its front.
The tank scene used practical effects, with a tank running over about 250 cars on a Spanish highway. The stretch of highway in Tenerife was three miles long and was digitally cleaned up.
Fans, marketing and the title
The filmmakers ran an online poll to choose the title and brought back Letty based on fan feedback.
Music and marketing
Lucas Vidal composed the score, replacing Brian Tyler, who was unavailable. Def Jam Recordings released the soundtrack on May 21, 2013, and a 15-piece clothing line was made with Guess.
Marketing included the Car Town game, which offered an in-game drive-in showing the trailer. Buying tickets in-game unlocked a virtual 2013 Dodge Charger SRT8.
How much did Fast & Furious 6 earn?
The film took $239 million in North America and $550 million in other markets, a worldwide total of $789 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated a net profit of $131.5 million, and the film ranks sixth among the year's highest-grossing releases.
| Opening measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Midnight showings (May 23, 2013) | 2,409 theaters |
| Opening day | $38.7 million from 3,659 theaters |
| Four-day Memorial Day weekend | $117.0 million, first place |
| UK opening day | $4.4 million from 462 screens |
| First weekend, fifty-nine territories | $160.3 million |
The film premiered at the Empire, Leicester Square, in London on May 7, 2013. The UK release came on May 17, and the North American release followed on May 24, 2013.
Midnight showings on May 23, 2013, played in 2,409 theaters. The opening day brought in $38.7 million from 3,659 theaters, and the four-day Memorial Day weekend reached $117.0 million to take first place.
The film opened in fifty-nine territories and earned $160.3 million in its first weekend. UK DVD arrived on September 16, 2013, and Australian DVD on October 3, 2013.
How did critics respond?
Reviews were mostly favourable. Rotten Tomatoes recorded 71% from 214 reviews, with an average of 6.2/10, and Metacritic gave the film 61 out of 100 from 39 critics. CinemaScore audiences awarded it an A.
IGN's Jim Vejvoda called the film a crowd pleaser whose fun moments outweighed its failed jokes. Slant Magazine's Chris Cabin was harsher, calling it smug and cynical.
Lin's direction of the action set-pieces was widely described as lavish. In 2025, The Hollywood Reporter listed the film among the best stunt work of 2013.
Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph called it slow-witted. Variety's Scott Foundas praised the attention to spatial geography in the shots, while The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy complained that the action cuts were too fast.
What came after Fast & Furious 6?
A cooperative racing game, Fast & Furious: Showdown, was released on May 21, 2013. It was developed by Firebrand Games and published by Activision.
Furious 7 features Paul Walker's final film performance, and The Fate of the Furious (2017) began the next trilogy. Walker died in a car crash on November 30, 2013, six months after this film's release.
Furious 7 used CGI to finish Walker's role, with his brothers Caleb and Cody Walker as stand-ins.
Frequently asked questions
Who directed Fast & Furious 6?
Justin Lin directed the film, from a screenplay by Chris Morgan. Vin Diesel plays Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker plays Brian O'Conner, and the film is the sixth in the series.
What is the Flip Car?
It is the custom racer Owen uses in the film, low to the ground, with a catapult ramp that lifts other vehicles into the air.
How did the plane stunt come about?
Lin conceived it while producing Fast & Furious in 2009, and it reached the screen in Fast & Furious 6 with a Dodge Charger fired through the plane's nose.
Is Paul Walker in Furious 7?
Yes. Furious 7 features Walker's final film performance, and the next trilogy began with The Fate of the Furious in 2017.
Did Fast & Furious 6 make a profit?
Yes. The estimate from Deadline Hollywood puts the net profit at $131.5 million once all expenses and revenues are counted.
Where was the film shot?
Principal photography began in London and at Shepperton Studios, with Glasgow, the Canary Islands and Echo Park in Los Angeles also used for filming.
