What started out as a series of movies revolving around street races and heists has evolved into one of the biggest action franchises of all time. The Fast and the Furious universe celebrated its 16th anniversary earlier this year with The Fate of the Furious, and given how financially well that movie and its immediate predecessors have performed, it's no surprise that Universal plans to keep this franchise fueled for a few more adventures. However, fans will have to wait a little longer for Fast and Furious 9 to hit theaters, as it's been moved back to 2020.
Originally Fast and Furious 9 was supposed to be released on April 19, 2019, but Universal announced today that it's delayed the next installment until April 10, 2020, a.k.a. Easter weekend. Trolls 2, another Universal release, was previously scheduled for that date, but now that movie has been moved to February 14, 2020, leaving Fast and Furious 9 all by itself for now, though you can be sure that will change in the coming years. Most of the established Fast and the Furious cast is expected to return for the next movie, although curiously, THR's write-up mentions that it's unclear if Dwayne Johnson will return.
No specific reason was provided for why Fast and Furious 9 was pushed to spring 2020. It could range from the writers needing more time to crack the story to making sure that all the involved actors will be available for principal photography. Regardless, this breaks the two-year gaps the franchise had been keeping up since 2011's Fast Five followed 2009's Fast and Furious. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that we'll be without another Fast and the Furious movie until Fast and Furious 9. A spinoff centered on Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw is in the works, and while Johnson already has a lot on his plate (like the Black Adam movie), it's always possible he could clear some of his schedule to re-team with Statham and have this movie ready to go by 2019. Fast and Furious 10, the final installment of the franchise, is still scheduled for release on April 2, 2021, though obviously that could be subject to change as well.
While the Fast and the Furious movies haven't always been critical winners, they've become increasingly successful on the commercial front over the last eight years. Furious 7 was an especially notable box office powerhouse, making over $1.5 billion worldwide and ranking as the third highest-grossing movie of 2015. The Fate of the Furious has collected over $1.2 billion since its release in April, and it currently ranks as the second highest-grossing movie of 2017. We'll have to wait until 2020 to see if Fast and Furious 9 can keep this streak going, though one can surmise that an extra year of waiting likely won't make much of a difference.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for all the latest updates concerning the Fast and the Furious franchise. For movies closer on the horizon, look through our 2017 and 2018 movie premiere guides to see what's coming to theaters over the next year.
