Roman Pier

2 Fast 2 Furious is a 2003 American action film directed by John Singleton from a screenplay by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, based on a story by Brandt, Haas, and Gary Scott Thompson. It is the sequel to The Fast and the Furious (2001) and the second installment in the Fast & Furious franchise. The film stars Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner alongside Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, Cole Hauser, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, and James Remar. The plot follows ex-LAPD officer Brian O'Conner and his ex-con friend Roman Pearce, who transport a shipment of "dirty money" for shady Miami-based import-export dealer Carter Verone while secretly working with undercover agent Monica Fuentes to bring Verone down. A second Fast & Furious film was planned after the box office success of its predecessor in 2001, and was confirmed with the returns of Walker and producer Neal H. Moritz. Vin Diesel and Rob Cohen, the co-star and director of the first film, were unable to return; Gibson and Singleton joined the cast in their absence in 2002. To canonically account for Diesel's departure, the short film The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) was produced and released. Principal photography for 2 Fast 2 Furious commenced in September 2002 and lasted until that December, with filming locations including Miami and the surrounding areas in southern Florida. 2 Fast 2 Furious premiered at Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on June 3, 2003, and was released in the United States on June 6, by Universal Pictures. The film grossed $236 million worldwide and received generally negative reviews from critics, although its reception has improved over time. A third film with an unrelated story, titled The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, was released in 2006, and a sequel, Fast & Furious, was released in 2009.