Vin Dieselhas forged a career as one of Hollywood’s most successful action stars, andDiesel has been a key part of four major franchises. These include superhero movies, sci-fi thrillers, and high-octane action films. What is impressive is that all four franchises have seen a respectable level of success critically and commercially.
Diesel’s career has been notable since he began making his films before ever breaking out in Hollywood.He directed the short filmMulti-Facial,which earned him enough funding to make his first feature-length movie,Strays.The short film also piqued the attention of Steven Spielberg, who thencast him inSaving Private Ryan.
Getting his start as a DIY filmmaker, Diesel also developed a strong work ethic, and he set out to create his own franchises, whichbegan withThe Chronicles of Riddickand then expanded toThe Fast and the Furious.He then followed this up with his Xander Cage franchise before finally signing on for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a recurring role.
However, not all Vin Diesel franchise attempts have been successful. He attempted tocreate a new franchise withThe Last Witch Hunter,which wasbased on Diesel’s love forDungeons & Dragons.He also had another superhero attempt withBloodshot,but that ended with just one movie. Even his failures prove the impressive results of his successful franchises.
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In 2002, Vin Diesel had yet to prove he could carry a franchise. He had already appeared inthe first chapter in theRiddickfranchise withPitch Blackand the firstFast and the Furiousmovie. However, plans for more Riddick movies were uncertain, andDiesel leftFast & Furiousafter the first film, so he was still looking for a franchise.
That led to his joining theXander Cagefranchise, although that wasn’t what it was planned to be when he starred inxXx. The first movie starred Diesel as extreme sports star Xander Cage. The National Security Agency recruits Cage to join them or face prison time for unlawful protesting. He accepts and becomes an extreme secret agent.
Diesel did not return for the second film in the series.
The film was a success and warranted a sequel. However, just likeFast & Furious,Diesel did not return for the second film in the series,replaced instead by Ice Cube.Ultimately, whenxXx: State of the Unionwas a box office failure, the franchise returned to Vin Diesel, resulting inxXx: Return of Xander Cage.
xXx(2002)
$267.2 million
48% / 58%
xXx: State of the Union(2005)
$71.0 million
17% / 32%
$345.0 million
46% / 37%
It proved a point, too, because this third movie made even more than the first, proving that Vin Diesel was the star fans were coming to see, and not the franchise itself.A fourth Xander Cage movie remains in limbothanks to complications with the film rights.
The Chronicles of Riddick
Out of all the Vin Diesel franchises, the one that goes back the furthest isThe Chronicles of Riddick.The first movie in the series was a straight sci-fi horror film calledPitch Black.Vin Diesel is Riddick, a dangerous prisonerbeing transported to a prison planet who had a “surgical shine job” that allows him to see in pitch-black darkness.
This comes in handy when the prison spacecraft crash-lands on a planet inhabited by alien insect creatures that attack at night, when the entire area becomes pitch black. It seemed like a great horror one-shot, was a small box office success, and earned mostly positive reviews.
However, director David Twohy and star Vin Diesel had big plans for Richard Riddick. Instead of a one-shot horror movie, they created a massive mythology for the character, and that led to the 2004 sequel,The Chronicles of Riddick.However, there was a problem since the dense mythologybecame confusing forPitch Blackfans, and it was a box office flop.
$53.1 million
59% / 77%
$107.2 million
28% / 65%
$94.7 million
58% / 56%
Thegood news is that Twohy and Diesel didn’t give up; they created a third movie in 2013 that returned to what fans loved so much aboutPitch Black.Riddickfocused on another situation where he was trapped on a dangerous planet with bounty hunters hired to kill him and monsters that come out in the dark to kill.
ThisthirdRiddickmovie featured bigger names, including Karl Urban, Dave Bautista, and Katee Sackhoff in the cast, and it achieved similar box office and critical success to the first film. It also ensured a fourth movie,which is in production, calledRiddick: Furya.In all, the first three movies grossed $255 million at the box office (viaThe Numbers).
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Marvel Cinematic Universe remains one of the biggest and most successful in Hollywood history. Vin Diesel was a small part of that as part of the fan-favoriteGuardians of the Galaxyfranchise. While fans never saw Diesel in the MCU, his voice was heard plenty ashe voiced the character of Groot in theGuardiansmovies.
Diesel made his debut in the firstGuardians of the Galaxyfilm,which was the 10th MCU movie overall. It seemed to be a risky bet for Marvel, as it was the least-known property to date for the studio, but it proved to be a massive success. It grossed $773.4 million at the box office and helped establish the Guardians as some of Marvel’s most popular characters.
Diesel went on to appear inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,andThe Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Specialon Disney+.He also voiced the character in theI Am Grootanimated series on Disney+, which was a series of shorts about the character that aired from 2022 to 2023.
Guardians of the Galaxy(2014)
$770.8 million
92% / 92%
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2(2017)
$869.0 million
85% / 87%
$2.048 billion
85% / 92%
$2.717 billion
94% / 90%
89% / 76%
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3(2023)
$845.5 million
82% / 94%
N/A
94% / 81%
It didn’t stop there either, as Vin Diesel was part of the two biggest movies in MCU history, when he brought Groot intoAvengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgame.The first film grossed $2.94 billion at the box office, and the second made $2.7 billion. Finally, Groot appeared inThor: Love and Thunder,and there arerumors Groot isn’t finished in the MCU yet.
Fast & Furious
The most successful Vin Diesel franchise, in terms of the actor in the central starring role, isTheFast & Furiousseries, and it isn’t even close.Diesel stars in the franchise as Dominic Toretto,and he has appeared in a lead role in all but two of the films, although he makes a cameo appearance at the very end of one of those movies. Diesel has led this franchise to immense success.
Diesel’s first appearance was inThe Fast and the Furiousin 2001, which told a storysimilar tothe classic action filmPoint Break.Diesel is Dom Toretto, a street racer who also runs a gang that pulls off daring heists. Paul Walker stars as Brian O’Conner, a young LAPD officer sent in to infiltrate the gang and arrest Dom. However, that isn’t what happened.
The third film then told a story that didn’t involve either Brian or Dom.
Instead, Brian lets Dom go, and both men end up wanted by the police. This said, that isn’t what the franchise led to. The second film had Brian on the run, teaming up with other street racers as he tried to evade arrest. The third film then told a story thatdidn’t involve either Brian or Dom, and the franchise seemed to be winding down.
However, like the Xander Cage franchise,Fast & Furiousresurrected itself bybringing back Paul Walker and Vin Diesel,and the rest is history. The fourth movie saw the two men back in action, and it remained a heist franchise, but everything changed inFast Five,and the series morphed into something bigger and better.
The Fast and the Furious(2001)
$206.4 million
55% / 74%
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift(2006)
$157.7 million
38% / 69%
$359.3 million
29% / 67%
$629.9 million
78% / 83%
$789.3 million
71% / 84%
$1.460 billion
82% / 82%
$1.189 billion
67% / 72%
$719.3 million
59% / 82%
$714.3 million
56% / 84%
AfterFast Five,the series shifted into an almost spy/espionage thriller, as Dom and his team began hunting down bad guys for a secret government agency. People like Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham joined the franchise, and it finally became big enough to break the $1 billion mark for the seventh and eighth films in the series.
This final film is supposed to digitally bring back Brian.
Fast Xwas released in 2023 and marked the first part of a two-part finale for Dominic Toretto and his family, with the second movie set to hit theaters in 2027. This final film issupposed to digitally bring back Brian(Paul Walker died in 2013), as Vin Diesel hopes it will be the biggest installment of the series.
The series has been so popular that it has also spawneda spinoff series (with Johnson and Statham)and has a chance to live on even afterVin Dieselleaves, following the 11th and final chapter.
