With only two movies left in the massive blockbuster franchise, The Fast and the Furious is nearing its conclusion. That doesn’t mean the anticipation is dissipating because as the returns from Fast 8: The Fate of the Furious has shown - it’s grossed over $1.2 billion - interest in the franchise is still at an all-time high. The next movie on the docket is Fast and Furious 9 and, while it was originally scheduled for release in 2019, it now looks like we’re all going to have to wait until 2020 to see it.

Yep. There’s been a delay in the production of Fast and Furious 9. There have been no explanations given on the reasons behind the delay, but the official Fast and Furious page on Facebook made it official when it posted the new release date - April 20, 2020 - of the ninth movie. The schedule reshuffling can be attributed to a number of reasons, one of which I’ll be talking about in the section below. Regardless of the reasons behind the delay, Variety added that the decision could also impact a number of other movies under the Universal Studios umbrella. That includes Trolls 2, which is now scheduled to be released on February 14, 2020, after previously occupying the April 2020 schedule that now belongs to Fast 9.

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Drama, drama, and or more drama

Schedule notwithstanding, there are still plenty of questions surrounding the production of Fast and Furious 9. One of these questions is the status of the cast, specifically Michelle Rodriguez. She was quoted a few months back saying that she might not return to the franchise unless the studio - that’d be you, Universal - “decides to show some love to the women of the franchise on the next one.” Rodriguez’s stance isn’t new in the Hollywood scene as more and more prominent actresses have voiced their displeasure over the perceived gender inequality in the industry. That’s one issue the franchise is going to have to iron out.

Another issue is the beef between franchise cornerstones Vin Diesel and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. In a lot of ways, the real-life feud between the two Hollywood A-listers dominated the narrative of Fast 8, and there’s been no word yet on whether the two have officially buried the hatchet.

Speaking of Johnson, little was reported about it, but there was a lot of chatter last month about a rumored spin-off movie starring Johnson’s character, Luke Hobbs, and another brewing beef between the People’s Champ and another one of his franchise familia, Tyrese. No reporting was needed for that one because Tyrese himself posted a now-deleted message on his Instagram account urging and begging Johnson not to proceed with the “#Hobbs Movie” because it would interfere with the launch date of Fast 9.

In his own words, this is what Tyrese wrote the following: "I have never and will never have a problem with this major movie star he’s my brother. I’m simply trying to reach him cause he won’t call me back about this solo #HobbsMovie. I want you to shoot it just not right now cause the #Fast9 release date has already been announced, and we can’t let our loyal fans #FastFamily or our loyal fast and furious FANS down on any level from pushing the date…….. Didn’t you see how HUGE #Fast8 was? It’s because we announced and KEPT our release date bro."

Well, it seems that Gibson’s pleas didn’t amount to much because the Fast 9’s release date has been moved a full year. Coincidence? I don’t know, but you know what the saying goes. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Whatever was the reason behind the delay, expect more drama to come out of the franchise ahead of the start of Fast 9’s production. It seems that the only thing the franchise has done better than print money is to have so much drama behind it.

References

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