To put into perspective how long the FAST & FURIOUS franchise has been a part of the cultural cinema zeitgeist, people who were born when the first film came out are now in college. In the almost two decades since audiences were introduced to Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto and his family, seven sequels have been released as well as a spin-off film, HOBBES & SHAW. For a franchise that began with illegal street racers stealing DVDs and most recently had Dwayne Johnson throwing a torpedo, things have certainly changed. What hasn't changed is the franchise's popularity at the box office. The last film, THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS, made over $1.2 billion worldwide. That's a lot of NOS.
However, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and for this franchise, the finish line is within view. However, audiences still have a couple more films to look forward to before the franchise gets put in a car museum. Today, Universal Pictures finally dropped the first trailer for the penultimate film in the FAST & THE FURIOUS series and man does it deliver! I mean there's high octane and then there's whatever the Hell FAST & FURIOUS 9 is.
After a couple films away from the franchise, Justin Lin once again returns to take on directing duties for F9 and the forthcoming untitled tenth film. Lin you may recall gave the franchise a real shot in the arm with FAST FIVE, arguably the best flick in the series. Will Lin take the checkered flag with these final two installments or limp across the finish line? I guess time will tell.
FAST & FURIOUS 9 starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, John Cena, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Michael Rooker, and Nathalie Emmanuel races into theaters May 22, 2020.