Vin Diesel’s surprise appearance at the end of “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” spawned tons of sequels and success for the action series, but at the time, the actor was focused on another franchise entirely. Diesel actually made a deal with Universal in which he agreed to the "F&F" cameo in exchange for control of the "Chronicles of Riddick" franchise.

"The Chronicles of Riddick," a sequel to the sci-fi horror hit “Pitch Black,” was a passion project for Diesel, but the movie was a box office failure that cost Universal nearly $50 million. With the studio burned by the film and the franchise seemingly doomed, Diesel had to pull some strings to continue telling Riddick's story, as he desperately wanted to.

Universal rejected Diesel’s $10 million offer for control of "Riddick," and proposed a different deal: in exchange for a cameo at the end of "Tokyo Drift," Diesel would gain the rights to "Riddick." The star may not have cared much about "F&F" when the deal was made, but he now calls it "one of the best deals in Hollywood history" that let him successfully revive his roles in two franchises, instead of just one.