Things do not seem to be getting any better in 2021 for the cinema and the release of Fast and Furious 9 is in danger of being delayed again.
2020 was marked by the pandemic, this affected the industry film that was forced to delay their premieres and stop their productions. The situation officially got out of hand in March, when the Coronavirus (COVID-19) began to affect more parts of the population and the governments of all countries began to take measures to stop the contagion. For their part, film studios chose to stop productions and pointed to 2021 as the right year to release their long-awaited films. Between them Fast and Furious 9, which was a year late. With the vaccine already in distribution, everything seemed hopeful in 2021. But there is still a long way to go to get back to normal.
And it is that, despite the promise of premieres in 2021, studios repeat the formula as the pandemic continues out of control. With no time to die, Daniel Craig’s latest James Bond film is once again delayed. The Warner Bros film goes from a release in April to one in October. In turn, Sony announces that it is delaying many of its blockbusters this year. Among them the new adaptation of Cinderella and Morbius by Jared Leto. It is possible that in the following weeks and months other studios will join the decision to delay their films to the end of 2021 or directly to 2022. And the Fast and Furious franchise runs the same risk.
Everything points to Universal joining the other studios and delaying Fast and Furious 9 again. This is pointed out by a new report from Variety that confirms that Universal would be considering a premiere in late summer, instead of early. This would give studios and movie theaters more time to control the situation more. Also, Variety affirms that this decision would be made in order to have the opening of more movie theaters and the reduction of capacity limits imposed in the countries most affected by the pandemic.
Although the purpose of the delay is to ensure the safety of viewers and the profits of the production companies, fans of the franchise would not be very happy. The original release date was May 2020, but this was pushed back to April 2021. Fast and Furious 9 fell behind once again and now has a release date of May 28, 2021. If Variety’s reports are true, the ninth installment of the franchise could arrive in September 2021.
For its part, the end of the Fast and Furious saga is already closed. Although Fast and Furious 9 has not yet hit theaters, Universal has already confirmed two more installments. The tenth and eleventh installments would mark the end of the saga that began in 2001. The production company also promises many surprises in these latest films.
Fast and Furious 9 stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Jordana Brewster, Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren, and John Cena. The current release is May 28, 2021.