Yahoo News Fast & Furious 9: Everything you need to know
Anyone who thought Fast & Furious 7's billion-surpassing success was a fluke was proven wrong when its follow-up The Fate of the Furious also hit that same mighty milestone in 2017.
A ninth – and tenth – movie is definitely on the way, but what do we know so far about Vin Diesel's latest instalment of the world's most popular pure action franchise?
Fast and Furious 9 release date: When's it coming out?
Originally slated for April 2019, the currently untitled ninth film was pushed back a full year to April 10, 2020, but that's no longer the case.
Universal confirmed on February 15 that it had moved Fast & Furious 9 back a month to May 22, 2020, the start of the Memorial Day weekend in the US.
Pre-production on the ninth movie started in February 2019 in London, with Vin Diesel later revealing that filming is expected to start in late May or early June. May has been and gone, and now Deadline reports that the movie will finally start shooting in late June.
Diesel has certainly been getting into the frame of mind needed.
A post shared by Vin Diesel (@vindiesel) on May 27, 2019 at 7:22pm PDT
A 10th and final movie is planned to follow – originally set for a 2021 release when the ninth film was due in 2019, Fast X (as it'll surely be called) is yet to be rescheduled.
Fast and Furious 9 cast: Who's coming back?
There hasn't been any confirmation as to who is returning to the franchise, but it's safe to assume that at least Vin Diesel (Dom), Michelle Rodriguez (Letty) and Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges (Tej) will be back.
After missing out on the last film, Jordana Brewster has also been confirmed to return as Dom's sister Mia. It'll be interesting to see how she's weaved back into the storyline, since Mia was last seen retiring for a quieter life with Brian (played by the late Paul Walker).
Dwayne Johnson's future is up in the air, following his on-set spat with Diesel during the filming of the last movie (the two never actually shot together on The Fate of the Furious), although there have been hints that he will be back for more of the main series' movies.
That's despite the fact that Johnson will appear in his own spin-off movie Hobbs & Shaw, alongside Jason Statham, but it does seem as though Johnson will be sitting out the ninth movie.
"As of now, we're not in Fast 9 because they're getting ready to start shooting. But who knows with Fast 10 down the road, you never know," he explained, potentially referring to Statham's involvement as well.
Dwayne @TheRock Johnson tells @joshuahorowitz what to expect from his new @FastFurious spin-off @HobbsAndShaw and whether or not we'll see him in #Fast9 pic.twitter.com/UWIr2EvWRC
- MTV NEWS (@MTVNEWS) January 29, 2019
Tyrese Gibson (Roman) is a strong possibility, though Gibson did previously vow never to work with Johnson again after the pair began feuding.
Related: Fast & Furious feuds explained
There's also the chance of returns for Helen Mirren (Magdalene Shaw), Luke Evans (Owen Shaw), Lucas Black (Sean), Nathalie Emmanuel (Ramsey), Kurt Russell (Mr Nobody) and Scott Eastwood (Eric).
Charlize Theron (Cipher) isn't sure about her future in the franchise, but it sounds like she's up for more.
Franchise veteran Michelle Rodriguez said in July 2017 that she could consider quitting the franchise if it does not give its female stars more "love", calling on the franchise to do better by its female characters.
Rodriguez called for the franchise to do better by its female characters in the ninth movie, posting her message on Instagram.
Vin Diesel later showed his support, posting on Instagram that he was "proud" of the franchise's saga. Rodriguez called Diesel a long-time supporter of strong women, and said her comments were not aimed at him.
She seemed pretty confident that Diesel will convince her to come back, but Rodriguez later noted that she wouldn't know if she's coming back until she's read the script.
Fortunately, Rodriguez is definitely coming back as she revealed on May 16 that she agreed to sign on to the movie after ensuring it hired a female writer.
"I felt like there was not enough of a female voice in the franchise," she said at the Bloomberg Future of Equality Summit. "You should evolve with the times, not just pander to certain demographics that are stuck [in the past]."
One newcomer to the franchise will be John Cena as it's been confirmed that he is playing a "badass" character in the ninth movie. Diesel had previously been teasing that the former WWE Champion would be in the movie.
A post shared by Vin Diesel (@vindiesel) on Apr 25, 2019 at 5:14pm PDT
Could Cena's character be causing trouble for Dom and his family? We'll have to wait and see as details are being kept under wraps.
Talking of returns, Diesel announced in October 2017 that Justin Lin, who directed the popular franchise's third, fourth, fifth and sixth instalments (before passing over to James Wan and F Gary Gray for the most recent films) would be back in the driver's seat.
Fast and Furious 9 plot: Could the movie head into space?
Sounds ridiculous, right? But... yeah, maybe. Fast & Furious 8 director F Gary Gray was asked about the possibility of that happening.
"Outer space? Listen, I wouldn't rule anything out with this franchise," he told ScreenRant. "When I read 'submarine' [in Fast & Furious 8], I'm like, 'OK, anything's possible'. You never know. I haven't read 'Dom on Mars' yet, but again, you just never know."
Related: 10 predictions for Fast & Furious 9 and beyond
As for what the plot will actually be, we'll have to wait and find out. Could it be about the gang hunting down Cypher? Once filming is underway, we should get some useful hints as to the direction of the ninth movie.
Fast and Furious 9 trailer: When will we see new footage?
Usually during filming, we'll get teasers of the new stunts planned from set videos and the like, but for an actual trailer, it looks like we'll have to wait until late 2019.
There's a chance that they could come up with some teaser footage for this year's Comic-Con though.
Fast & Furious 9 is released in cinemas on May 22, 2020.
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