Anna Daniels
Though it’s completely understandable why Universal Pictures has delayed Fast and Furious 9, what feels particularly disappointing about this development is that Vin Diesel, who leads the franchise as the racing aficionado Dom Toretto, recently assured fans that the film’s release date wouldn’t be changed. During an interview with USA Today to promote his newest film Bloodshot, which hits theaters on March 13, Diesel promised that F9 was sticking to its planned May 22 release date.
“[I] won’t fault anyone in the world for saying, ‘You guys are stupid for releasing this movie right now,'” Diesel said in the conversation, published on March 7, just days before Universal confirmed F9‘s year-long delay. “[But] we need movies now more than ever. We’re already in a very interesting time where cinema and the cinematic experience is so threatened. So, yes, put it on record we’re going to show up.”
What’s a double bummer about this situation is that this isn’t the first time F9 has suffered a lengthy delay. Before it was stamped with a May 22 debut date, the film was slated to hit theaters on April 19, 2019. However, when Universal prioritized the Fast and Furious spin-off film Hobbs & Shaw starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham over the main franchise entry, F9 was pushed to April 10, 2020 before later settling into its May 22, 2020 slot. (That delay seriously ticked off franchise star Tyrese Gibson, so we can only imagine how frustrated he feels right now.)
Written by: Looper
