F9’s director’s cut will include an unreleased flashback scene with the franchise’s various characters. The Fast & Furious franchise has become one of the biggest properties in Hollywood, so naturally, there was plenty of buzz surrounding the latest installment. F9 built strong fan interest with the return of Han, the arrival of John Cena’s Jakob Toretto, and even the much-talked-about space scene. After being delayed for over a year due to the pandemic, the latest film became one of the more notable success stories since the majority of theatres reopened, scoring what was, at the time, the biggest pandemic opening weekend. As of this writing, F9 has a worldwide gross of over $680 million.
The latest chapter in the Fast & Furious franchise tells the story of Dominic Toretto, who, alongside Letty, Mia Toretto, and the rest of his wild family, face off against Dom’s younger brother Jakob and Charlize Theron’s Cipher. F9 has become the first installment to receive a rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes since Fast & Furious 4. The film has a nearly two-hour and thirty-minute runtime and is fuelled by flashbacks of Dom and Jakob’s past, as well as even more bombastic action sequences. However, audience reception has still been strong for F9, and fans of the franchise will be excited to know that there’s more to see in the director’s cut.
Collider reported that the digital version of F9 will be available on September 7, and the 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD editions will release on September 21. In addition to that, Collider reports the non-digital releases will feature two versions of the film, the theatrical release and the “supercharged version called F9: The Director’s Cut.” The director’s cut is reportedly seven minutes longer and includes "A deepened sibling rivalry between Dom and Jakob, more of Dom's evolution as a father, a never-before-seen-flashback featuring some of the franchise's most beloved characters, extended sequences featuring Tej and Roman, an additional Cardi B appearance, and an expanded action climax featuring the infamous Armadillo tank."
As with a lot of director’s cuts, it will be interesting to see what the additional footage adds to the film and whether or not the theatrical version would have potentially benefitted from the additional scenes. The theatrical version of F9 already has plenty of flashbacks, but they primarily focus on Dominic and Jakob’s younger days, as well as some showing how Han is still alive. This new flashback will feature “beloved characters” of the franchise, so one would assume it’s a more recent flashback if it includes some of the familiar faces fans know and love. In addition to this, fans may be wondering whether this plays into Dominic and Jakob’s history or if it’s another one focusing on Han, where he potentially almost runs into his old crew while still “dead.”
The additional seven minutes of footage, which Collider notes were all chosen by director Justin Lin, will almost certainly appeal to the die-hard fanbase and provide them with something new as they wait until 2023 for Fast and Furious 10. Fast and Furious 10 and 11 start filming in January next year, and after the ending of F9, including some teases with post-credit scenes, fans will be curious to see what and who will pop up in the final two films. Until then, they have a new F9 director’s cut to look forward to in September.
Source: Collider