Fans of the Fast & Furious franchise will have to wait a little longer to watch the latest installment, as the release date of “F9” has been pushed from May 28 to June 25, 2021.
The announcement comes just days after President Joe Biden announced that there will be enough vaccines available to inoculate every adult in America by the end of May.
If there’s a chance, then, that movie theaters will be open and widely attended in June, it makes sense for the studio to react accordingly.
The only other major blockbuster expected to hit theaters before then is Marvel’s “Black Widow,” set to premiere on May 7. That would position “F9” well to capture audiences hungry for movies just as theaters reopen at full capacity – if everything goes according to plan, that is.
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“F9” was originally supposed to premiere in May of 2020, but the pandemic led Universal Studios to push back its release date twice. This third push means that the movie’s release has been delayed by more than a year.
According to Variety, the movie cost $200 million to make, so Universal Studios is heavily invested in making a return on it. The studio had reportedly weighed multiple options for its release, including the Holiday season and 2022.
Fittingly, F9 will premiere just a few days after the series’ 20th anniversary. The movie stars Vin Diesel and John Cena, as well as Dame Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron. Many of the movie’s established characters are also returning, but neither Dwayne Johnson nor Jason Statham will star in this film.