Reschedule the family barbecue: F9 release postponed to Memorial Day weekend
Ozuna Will Be in Newest Fast & Furious Movie, Vin Diesel Confirms: 'Very Proud of Your Work'
'Fast & Furious 9' races into theaters on May 22, 2020
F9 is pumping the brakes on its planned April 2021 release.
In the wake of MGM and Universal rescheduling the James Bond movie No Time to Die to bow April 2, Universal has moved the latest installment of its Fast & Furious franchise off that date, to May 28, 2021. (Universal is handling international distribution on No Time to Die.)
That means F9 will arrive almost exactly 12 months after the original intended release date of May 22, 2020. Back in March, the coronavirus pandemic set off a chain of film delays, and while many studios moved their projects only a few months, Universal was aggressive in postponing F9 almost a full year.
Director Justin Lin is returning to the franchise he guided to new heights with the third through sixth Fast films, and John Cena is joining the cast as Dom's (Vin Diesel) brother. But the big news revealed in the trailer is that fan favorite Han (Sung Kang) is rising from the dead.
"Obviously, I have a very personal connection to the character," Lin previously told EW. "To be honest, when we first started, the community of Fast was not the community that it is today. I feel like, together, every kind of connection with the audience, we had to earn. With these sequels, sometimes people take it for granted and think it's just going to happen; I always think we have to earn the next one. And so to be able to go through that journey with Han… when I left, I felt it was appropriate and I felt like we were putting the character to bed, but it's because of some of the things that happened that didn't quite make sense to me, and so I felt like if I was going to come back, I really wanted to explore why. I think it's really up to us to bring him back and explore it throughout the themes that we're all used to."
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