Vin Diesel reportedly turned down the opportunity to return for the sequel to The Fast and the Furious because he didn’t like the script. Diesel was, however, invited back for Tokyo Drift for a cameo appearance to connect the seemingly unconnected movie to the series’ earlier entries.
The films were made out of chronological sequence due to the popularity of Fast & Furious, which made it necessary for the franchise to go back and investigate the background of Diesel’s Tokyo Drift cameo.