Vin Diesel’s Involvement in 'The Fast and Furious’ Is Much Larger Than His Roles

There’s a lot we know about actor and producer Vin Diesel. He’s the star of The Fast and the Furious franchise, sometimes referred to as Fast & Furious, and has a fraternal twin brother named Paul Vincent. The Riddick star was also born Mark Sinclair, though he later opted to change his name to Vin Diesel (honestly, it’s more suitable).

But, one fact many haven’t confirmed is whether Diesel owns the Fast & Furious franchise.

The Fast & Furious saga began in June 2001 after Universal Pictures released The Fast and the Furious starring Diesel as “Dominic Toretto,” Paul Walker (R.I.P.) as “Brian O’ Conner, and Michelle Rodriguez as “Letty Ortiz.” That served as a segway to nine more movies and a tenth — Fast X, which will release in May 2023.

Will Diesel be collecting a fair share of the profits? Does he own the Fast & Furious franchise? Keep reading to find out!

Although it has been rumored that Vin Diesel might own the Fast & Furious franchise or a portion of it given his role in all the films, the rumors aren’t accurate. Fast & Furious is actually owned by Universal Pictures, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal. A 51 percent stake in NBCUniversal was acquired by Comcast in 2011.

By 2013, Comcast purchased the remaining shares, making it the sole owner of the company and those under it.

Although Vin Diesel can’t say he holds the title of Fast & Furious owner, he was able to leverage the rights to the Riddick franchise and forgo compensation if he agreed to appear in a surprise cameo in the third film, Tokyo Drift.

While fans initially weren't pleased to see that producers had cut most of the familiar faces from the cast in the third film, it was Vin Diesel’s appearance that gave producers hope for any remaining movies. In addition to having him and other cast members rejoin the set, they also gave Vin Diesel a significant amount of “creative control” going forward, Insider reported.

A large chunk of Vin Diesel’s net worth comes from the earnings he collected from the Fast & Furious franchise. The saga also helped him become internationally known. Today, Vin Diesel carries a net worth of $225 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Vin Diesel landed his first acting role at age seven in the child’s play Dinosaur Door at the Theater for the New City, but he didn’t get the role because of his talent and skills. Instead, he and his friends reportedly broke into the theater and were offered parts in exchange for not calling the police.

From there, Vin Diesel’s acting career blossomed and he eventually landed a larger role in the film Strays, which he helped write, direct, and produce. Additional movies that propelled his acting career include Saving Private Ryan, Boiler Room, and Pitch Black.

After landing parts in these popular films, Diesel became well-known in Hollywood, and in no time, he was being offered leading roles in films like The Fast and the Furious, XXX, Riddick, Guardians of the Galaxy (the voice of Baby Groot), and Avengers: Infinity War.

Aside from acting, Vin Diesel also dabbles in producing (as we mentioned) and even founded his own multimedia production company, One Race Films, in 1995.