Fans Will Now Have To Wait Even Longer To See F9 In Theaters

The latest Fast and the Furious is following the slow and steady wins the race mantra. Following several coronavirus-related delays, Universal Pictures announced on Friday they'd once again moved the F9 release date, as The Hollywood Reporter reports. The big day is now May 28, 2021, the start of Memorial Day weekend. The studio had previously pushed back F9's April 2020 premiere by an entire year, before landing on the new date, which they'd previously reserved for Fast & Furious 10.

Hours before the news broke, MGM and Universal also announced the delayed James Bond film, No Time to Die, would shift to F9's rescheduled April 2, 2021 slot. Now, F9 will compete at the box office against Disney’s live-action Cruella, starring Emma Stone in the title role, as well as Mark Wahlberg's Infinite movie, according to Deadline.

The latest film in the Fast and Furious franchise — which has, so far, earned $5.9 billion at the worldwide box office — picks up following the events of 2017’s The Fate of the Furious. The official F9 trailer that dropped in February amassed 439 million views across YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter within a week of its debut, People reported at the time. The latest sequel centers on Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto facing off against his younger brother Jakob (John Cena), a deadly assassin working with Cipher (Charlize Theron).

The Justin Lin-directed movie also stars Michelle Rodriguez, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Tyrese Gibson, Jordana Brewster, and Helen Mirren, in addition to introducing a new character played by Cardi B.

"We feel all the love and the anticipation you have for the next chapter in our saga," read a Twitter statement on the film's Twitter account in March, following the initial postponement. "While we know there is disappointment in having to wait a little while longer, this move is made with the safety of everyone as our foremost consideration."