False.
Interest was renewed when Dom appeared at the end of Tokyo Drift. Then in the next movie Dom, Letty, Paul and Mia came back. Tokyo Drift did like $160 million. Fast & Furious 4 did $363 million. So....interest was VERY MUCH renewed before The Rock ever thought about joining the cast. They could've put anyone in as Hobbs for Fast Five and it would've been a major success. The Brazil location. Changing from a car film to an Espionage/Ocean's 11 film. Tyrese, Luda, Han, the chick, the two Latin cats coming back. They could've cast Jason Momoa, Channing Tatum or Chris Hemsworth as "Hobbs" and nobody would've noticed the difference.
I don't know why you Rock fans keep trying to lie about this. It's so easy to disprove. What do yall get out of spreading obvious false information and easily getting checked on it.