Fast and Furious 9 release date: Trailer, cast and latest news from the mega action franchise

Fast and Furious 9 revved up an incredible $163million at the worldwide box office during its opening weekend, lapping up $137million from China alone.

Even more impressive is that coronavirus restrictions meant the film only debuted in eight countries - with key markets such as the US and the UK still waiting for their dose of Dominic Toretto's adrenaline-fuelled driving.

Vin Diesel has saved his Fast family countless times over the years, and now having saved cinemas also the franchise's long-term star joined his castmates in thanking fans in a clip posted on social media.

There's not long to go now until the film swings into UK cinemas also - here's everything you need to know about Fast and Furious 9.

Fast and Furious 9 release date

The film was originally set for a US release of 19th April 2019, but was pushed back almost a year to April 10 2020, following the announcement of Hobbs & Shaw.

Following the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, the film was then pushed back another 11 months and was slated to be released in cinemas on 28th May 2021.

In March 2021 Fast and Furious 9 got one last slight delay, moving nearly a month later to 25th June 2021.

However, in one last twist, in May 2021 the film made the rare move of actually moving the release date forward - Fast and Furious 9 will now hit UK cinemas a day earlier on 24th June 2021.

Filming began on 24th June 2019 at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, England as well as in Los Angeles, London (including chase scenes near Buckingham Palace), Thailand, Georgia and finally Edinburgh (where shooting's caused more than a little disruption).

Fast and Furious 9 cast

The following cast members will return from previous films in the franchise. Salut, mi familia!

• Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto
• Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz
• Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pierce
• Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as Tej Parker
• Sung Kang as Han Lue
• Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey
• Helen Mirren as Magdalene Shaw
• Charlize Theron as Cipher

Jordana Brewster will also be reprising her role as Mia Toretto, her first appearance in a Fast and Furious movie since 2015's Furious 7 – Mia retired alongside her partner Brian, a story move necessitated by the death during filming of actor Paul Walker.

It remains to be seen how Mia will rejoin the crew and to what extent the character of Brian, an F&F mainstay and fan favourite prior to Walker's passing, will be referenced.

Walker's brother Cody previously served as a stand-in for his late sibling during filming of Furious 7, with CGI face-mapping being used to complete Paul's unfinished scenes.

Director Justin Lin told Variety that it was "very important" that Brian O'Connor was still alive in the Fast and Furious universe, and added that in Fast 9 "you will feel the presence of Brian, for sure."

Cody visited the Fast & Furious 9 set during production, leading some to speculate that he could again be standing in as Brian for a brief sequence, but there has been no official confirmation of this.

Vin Diesel has enthused about wrestler-turned-actor John Cena joining the franchise in particular, saying the WWE star is "killing his character". "He’s gonna blow you away when you see him in Fast," he added.

The trailers later revealed - slight spoiler alert here - that Cena will be playing none other than Jakob Toretto, Dom and Mia's secret assassin brother.

That wasn't the only shock, however - the trailers also teased the return of fan-favourite street racer and keen snacker Han, played by Sung Kang, who was seemingly killed off all the way back in threequel Tokyo Drift.

According to Vin Diesel, Han's return was all about building on the theme of brotherhood, both those bonded by blood and those brothers by choice.

"We have this very interesting and fascinating and mysterious character in Jakob, who is a blood brother. From a story point, there's a significance in the brotherhood of Dom and Han. if you go back to Los Bandoleros and Tokyo Drift, there was no brotherhood between Dom and Brian. Brian was a cop, Dom was an outlaw," Diesel said.

"There was a brotherhood between Han and Dom, they were outlaws in Mexico, they were brothers. So in creating this whole mythology, the presence of Jakob was beautifully balanced by the return of Han, the return of a brother."

Joining the fast car frenzy also this time around will be Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Walking Dead) as a character named Buddy, with Peaky Blinders actor Finn Cole playing an undisclosed role, alongside Anna Sawai and Vinnie Bennett.

Fast and Furious 9 will also see an unexpected Tokyo Drift reunion, with Lucas Black, Bow Wow and Jason Tobin all set to reprise their roles of Sean Boswell, Twinkie and Earl Hu respectively.

MMA Fighter Francis Ngannou has also joined the cast in a mysterious role, while Reggaeton singer Ozuna has been confirmed to be making a cameo.

Neither Johnson nor Jason Statham – the latter playing Deckard Shaw in the last two F&F movies – are expected to return, but director Justin Lin retains hope that the pair will still return to the main series in the future.

"I never really considered them gone, you know?" he told Deadline. "To me, they're still in this universe; they're part of this family.

"Whatever we do, whenever we're talking about the next chapter, I never feel like I have any restrictions, so I'm excited for what we build, and as we're coming to this kind of final chapter of this saga, I think I'm excited to revisit...

"Any character, in any situation, is up for discussion."

The most surprising casting news is that Cardi B is joining the cast. The news was announced via Vin Diesel's Instagram. It is as yet unclear who she plays, but she says she thinks its gonna be the best Fast and Furious yet...

Fast and Furious 9 will be a family affair in more ways than one, with Vin Diesel's son Vincent Sinclair cast in an undisclosed role - which may well be a young Dom during a flashback scene showing his childhood with Jakob.

Diesel has also teased a major cameo that will be a "big surprise" when talking to Entertainment Tonight.

"It's a testament to the franchise, it's a testament to all the work that everyone has done and it's a testament to the integrity," he told ET. "As a thespian, as someone who started acting when I was 7 years old, it's wonderful to dance with other acclaimed thespians and try to make magic."

No word yet on Kurt Russell as Mr. Nobody (the enigmatic intelligence operative who worked with Dom's team in the last two movies) or Scott Eastwood as 'Little Nobody' (another law enforcement agent who debuted in the eighth film in the series).

Luke Evans was noticeably absent from Hobbs & Shaw as Deckard's younger brother Owen – could he reappear here, having previously featured in the sixth and eighth entries?

Daniel Casey will write the screenplay for Fast & Furious 9, with Chris Morgan – who's written every F&F movie since 2006's Tokyo Drift – having left to work on Hobbs & Shaw.

Fast and Furious 9 trailer

Universal has been steadily releasing a wealth of promotional videos for the film, the latest of which is a clip showing *that* car swinging scene from the trailer.

Another was a featurette titled Fast & Fearless, which was released in May 2021 to celebrate the female stars of the film series.

Watch below to see Michelle Rodriguez, Helen Mirren et all discuss the importance of the franchise's female characters, complete with footage of some of their more daring stunts.

In April, a short clip was released that saw Vin Diesel celebrate the return to cinemas, introducing footage from the film by saying, "It's been a while. The roads were a little empty, the place where we used to go went a little quiet. We've gone through a year that's tested us, but we've started to feel the promise of a new day.

"For more than 100 years, there's one place where we all came together to be entertained, to escape, to go someplace new. The Movies. There's nothing like that moment when the lights go down, the projectors ignite and we believe"

Now if that doesn't make you long for the return to cinemas, nothing will...

Before that, an epic F9 trailer yet dropped on 14th April 2021, promising outrageous stunts, Vin Diesel vs. John Cena, the epic return of Han - a character previously thought to be dead - and the return of characters from franchise threequel Tokyo Drift.

In February 2021 a short new trailer was released teasing the return of the 'Fast Family'.

Earlier there had been two previous trailers, one of which had been released in February 2021 – before the release date had been changed.

And the first trailer for Fast & Furious was a hefty one, weighing in at just under four minutes long – check it out below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=er23oAtFHTU&feature=emb_logo

One notable shot in the trailers sees a car magnetically pulled through an entire shop and into a truck - and while a lot of Fast and Furious scenes may use CGI, director Justin Lin shared a look at how much effort went into getting this four-second shot practically.

Fast and Furious 9 reviews

Reviews have always been the true greatest enemy for Dominic Toretto and his Fast family, but this time around the reception has been (mostly!) pretty positive. Most critics agree that Fast and Furious 9 is a fitting film to welcome the return of the big-screen experience, and that long-time fans will have a lot of fun - and also tease that some stunts are a bit more gravity-defying than usual...

Screen Daily's Courtney Howard hints that the twenty-year-old franchise shows no signs of stalling, and that franchise veteran Tyrese might be a surprise standout...

Fittingly for the franchise's 20th anniversary, Rotten Tomatoes editor Joel Meares reveals that there are some callbacks to earlier instalments:

ScreenRant's Molly Freeman also highlighted that the theme of family is still alive and kicking - quite literally in the form of John Cena's Jakob:

What will happen in Fast and Furious 9?

The official synopsis for the film reads: "After the events of The Fate of the Furious (2017), Dominic Toretto and his family must face Dominic's younger brother Jakob, a deadly assassin, who is working with their old enemy Cipher, and who holds a personal vendetta against Dominic."

There were many rumours that the new film will see the team head to space, and when asked about these reports, Vin Diesel was non-committal – but he certainly didn't rule out the possibility of an outer space adventure.

"No spoilers over here," he told Entertainment Weekly. "I will say that Justin is one of those think-outside-of-the-box directors. I'd put nothing past him and he will thoroughly play with whatever is plausible to incorporate into the story."

The second trailer saw Roman and Tej flying into the atmosphere in what looked like very DIY spacesuits - pretty much confirming that Dom's crew will soon be going fast in the final frontier...

Despite being a series that plays fast and loose with the laws of physics, director Justin Lin revealed he spoke with scientists about the space sequence to ensure it was more than just a gimmick.

"I'm on the phone with scientists, learning about fuel and physics," Lin told The Hollywood Reporter. "It was great, having the scientists on the other line going, 'Wait, what? What are you trying to do?' I love it."

Will there be a Fast and Furious 10 and 11?

Nine movies would be more than enough for most franchises, but Fast and Furious has proved it likes to go bigger and better - in terms of both stunts and the number of films.

It was previously announced in 2017 that Fast and Furious 10 would be the end of the road for the long-running series, however in 2020 Diesel hinted that this final entry would be split into two parts.

In October 2020 it was confirmed that the franchise would indeed hit the brakes after two more instalments, with director Justin Lin and the main cast all set to return for Fast and Furious 10 and 11.

Lin hinted that he and Diesel had been planning the finale for some time while talking to Variety, with this last trilogy starting with Fast and Furious 9 acting as an extended farewell to the franchise.

"When we talk about 'Fast 9,' this is the first time for me creatively approaching it not as just the one film. In the past, I’ve always felt like, we’re lucky enough to do one, let’s do everything we can," Lin told Variety.

But Vin finally talked me into it, you know, when I came back, he’s like, 'Well, let’s think about it as a final chapter.' So 'Fast 9' is really the beginning of the final chapter of the saga."

Don't forget to watch the Fast and Furious movies in order first. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide.