BY: Amanda Jane Stern

F9 (alternatively known as Fast & Furious 9) was originally scheduled for an April 2019 release, it was shelved to make way for the Fast & Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw, and later due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This entry is directed by Justin Lin (who helmed franchise entries 2, 4, 5, 6 —and prospectively 10).

 

The plot of this entry picks up right where entry 8 (2017’s The Fate of the Furious) left off, and introduces a deadly assassin who is working with an old enemy.

With a budget of $200+ million dollars (according to Variety), F9 is hoping that audiences will feel safe enough to sit in theaters this summer.

F9 is now set for a theatrical release on Memorial Day Weekend, opening on May 28, 2021.

 

Vin Diesel 

Who he’s playing: Dominic Toretto

How many “Fast” movies he’s been in (so far): 8 —all except 2 Fast 2 Furious (and Hobbs and Shaw), if you include his uncredited cameo in Tokyo Drift.

What else you know him from: He is Groot, the Iron Giant, and a die-hard Dungeons and Dragons player.

 

Michelle Rodriguez 

Who she’s playing: Letty Ortiz

How many “Fast” movies she’s been in (so far): 6

What else you know her from: a perennial force in action movies including, Resident Evil, S.W.A.T., Battle Los Angeles, and Avatar.

 

Charlize Theron

Who she’s playing: Cipher

How many “Fast” movies she’s been in (so far): 1 —She’s returning again after first popping up in entry 8.

What else you know her from: An Oscar winner for her turn as real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003’s Monster, you also wouldn’t want to cross her characters in Atomic Blonde, Mad Max: Fury Road, or Nefflix’s The Old Guard.

 

Ludacris

Who he’s playing: Tej Parker

How many “Fast” movies he’s been in (so far): 5

What else you know him from: The multi- grammy-award winning rapper, is Richard Pryor’s cousin. He is also a SAG-award winning actor for 2004’s Crash.

 

Nathalie Emmanuel

Who she’s playing: Megan Ramsey

How many “Fast” movies she’s been in (so far): 2

What else you know her from: Missandei (Daenerys’s most trusted counselor) on HBO’s Game Of Thrones.

 

Finn Cole

Who he’s playing: still unannounced

How many “Fast” movies he’s been in (so far): 0. This’ll be his first speeding ticket. 

What else you know him from: The English actor is best known as Michael Gray on the BBC’s Peaky Blinders, and currently stars as Joshua “J” Cody in TNT’s Animal Kingdom.

 

Helen Mirren

Who she’s playing: Magdalene Shaw

How many “Fast” movies she’s been in: 1, if you count Hobbs and Shaw. So technically, this is not the Dame’s first time behind the wheel.

What else you know her from: She’s won an Oscar and a Tony award as Queen Elizabeth II. 

 

John Cena

Who he’s playing: Jakob Toretto

How many “Fast” movies he’s been in (so far): 0. This is Cena’s first foray into the franchise. 

What else you know him from: the WWE wrestler has been in Trainwreck, 12 Rounds, and Bumblebee. He rapped 2005’s platinum album “You Can’t See Me.”