Fast & Furious 9 has been delayed for the third time but thankfully its new delay won’t be as long as the previous two.
The ninth Fast entry will now drive into theaters on June 25 instead of May 28, which was supposed to be its big Memorial Day launch. This weekend, cinemas in New York City have been given the green light to once again welcome customers, albeit at 25 percent capacity. Los Angeles movie theaters expect to be able to begin opening in the next few weeks, but there’s no official word yet. President Biden also says vaccinations could be available to all adults by May but you can tell movie studios are still playing it safe with their tentpole releases. June does feel safe for Fast 9 to launch without fearing a lack of turnout & I’m just happy we didn’t get another year postponement.
Universal Pictures was more dramatic with another film delay. The studio also announced that Illumination’s origins’ story Minions: The Rise of Gru is being pushed out of 2021 entirely. It is now set to hit the big screen on July 1, 2022, moving from July 2 of this year. With Fast & Furious 9 moving off of May, that only leaves Black Widow as the top tentpole release for that month. Disney/Marvel has yet to make a decision about moving it & I hear that decision needs to be made in a few weeks before money goes into more marketing.
