As expected, in the wake of MGM and EON's No Time to Die moving to April, Universal Pictures has vacated the date and shifted its upcoming Fast & Furious sequel F9 to May 28, 2021.
Earlier this year, Universal proved to be the most proactive of all the studios with its prompt virus response, moving back their two biggest 2020 releases, F9 and Minions: The Rise of Gru, a whole year back in March.
At the time, many saw this as an overreaction to the coronavirus pandemic, but their foresight has proven increasingly valuable in the months since, as Universal was able to secure key dates early and were also able to save a considerable amount of money on unnecessary marketing for release dates they were never going to meet.
This was very much unlike the strategy deployed by practically every other major studio, including Disney, Paramount, and Warner Bros, who have been forced to repeatedly delay films before finally deciding to punt on the rest of the calendar year and move the majority of their biggest films to 2021.
However, while Disney and Paramount are more or less out, Warner Bros. does still have Dune and Wonder Woman 1984 on the calendar for December, so it looks like they'll have some very big decisions to make in the coming weeks as theaters continue to struggle in their efforts to bring back audiences.
The film will see the whole family - Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jordana Brewster and Nathalie Emmanuel - reunite, as well as someone fans never thought they'd see again: Sung Kang, who returns to serve some justice in this adrenaline-fueled world. But this time, the Fast gang will have their work cut out for them when they square off against a pair of extremely formidable foes in Charlize Theron's Cipher and John Cena, who is playing Dom's long-lost brother Jakob.
Summer 2020 is the time for F9, the ninth chapter in The Fast Saga that has endured for almost two decades and has earned more than $5 billion around the world. Directed by Justin Lin, who helmed the third, fourth, fifth and sixth chapters of the series when it transformed into a global blockbuster, the film stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Oscar®winner Charlize Theron and Oscar® winner Helen Mirren. F9 is produced by Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Jeff Kirschenbaum, Joe Roth, Justin Lin, Clayton Townsend and Samantha Vincent
F9 features:
Director: Justin Lin
Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto
Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz
Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce
Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as Tej Parker
Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto
Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey
Sung Kang as Han Lue
John Cena as Jakob Toretto
Helen Mirren as Magdalene Shaw
Charlize Theron as Cipher
Lucas Black as Sean Boswell
Bow Wow as Twinkie
Jason Tobin as Earl Hu
Cardi B as Leysa
Anna Sawai as Elle
Michael Rooker as Buddy
Finn Cole in an undisclosed role
Vinnie Bennett in an undisclosed role
Ozuna in an undisclosed role
Francis Ngannou in an undisclosed role
F9 races into theaters May 28, 2021