Reports suggest that Fast and Furious 9 will be one of the early summer releases pushed back a few months due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The long-running franchise, which started with the original 2001 movie, a loose remake of Point Break, has become a box office behemoth for Universal over the past two decades. After a middling start, the Fast and Furious franchise has gone from strength to strength, even as its action set pieces and storylines have become increasingly ludicrous. The series even managed to overcome the tragic death of its star Paul Walker in 2013.
Fast and Furious 9 brings back the remaining core cast members, including Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese, Jordana Brewster, and Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren, and franchise newbie John Cena, playing Dom Toretto's brother. The latest installment of the franchise was originally scheduled for release in May 2020. But that date was pushed back to April 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was then pushed even further into the year, to its current release date of May 28. But that may not be the last time it gets delayed.
A report from Variety suggests that Fast and Furious 9 could be pushed later into the year, closer to the end of summer rather than the start, to try and make sure there's as much chance as possible for the coronavirus pandemic to have abated. Predictions on vaccine rollout predict that they won't have a full effect until late in the summer or early in the fall. So the delay would give Fast and Furious 9 a chance to open in a larger number of theaters, at a time when more audience members will be able to attend theaters safely.
If the reports turn out to be true, and Fast and Furious 9 does move back, it will leave summer with a gaping blockbuster hole to be filled. Fans of the franchise will also be bitterly disappointed, as the movie not only heralds the return of audience favorite Han, thought to have been killed off at the climax of Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, but will also reportedly take the franchise to space for the first time.
Diesel won't confirm those rumors, but he is determined for the film to get a full theatrical release. So it seems, at least for now, that fans are going to have to be a little more patient to find out, with the film's delay almost inevitable at this point. The only silver lining is that this report isn't confirmed, and no official announcement has been made. If the spread of the coronavirus slows significantly over the next two months by some miracle, then Fast and Furious 9 may well make its scheduled date of May 28.
Source: Variety
