The First 'Fast and Furious 9' Trailer Dials Up the Franchise's Stunts, Surprises and Love of Family

Overview

UPDATE: OCTOBER 3, 2020 — Fast and Furious 9 has moved its release date again, and will no longer hit cinemas on April 1, 2021. Instead, it'll release on May 27, 2021.

UPDATE, MARCH 13, 2020: Due to concerns around the coronavirus, Universal Pictures has announced that Fast and Furious 9 will no longer release on its initially scheduled date of Thursday, May 21, 2020. It will now release worldwide in April 2021 — including Down Under on April 1, 2021.

To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website.

Given the Fast and Furious franchise's title, you'd think driving speedily and passionately is what this big-budget film series is all about. Over-the-top car antics play a hefty part, as the 2001 original, its seven sequels to-date and its 2019 spin-off have all shown via a constant onslaught of hectic stunts — but if there's one thing that this Vin Diesel-starring and -produced saga loves just as much as vehicular mayhem, it's family.

Over the years, Diesel's Dominic Toretto has extended the term 'family' to include not only his girlfriend-turned wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster), her husband Brian (the late Paul Walker) and their various offspring, but their extended motley crew of fast-driving pals as well. Dom talks about family rather often, usually over a few Coronas with said friends and family. The gang has even faced off against a family of adversaries, courtesy of brothers Owen and Deckard Shaw (Luke Evans and Jason Statham), and their mother Magdalene (Helen Mirren).

So, when it comes to Fast and Furious 9 — or F9 as it's being called — it's unsurprising that the franchise is leaning heavily on one of its favourite concepts. Somehow, the saga hasn't expended all family-related options just yet, as the just-dropped first trailer for the flick reveals. Not only does the sneak peek begin with Diesel growling "I used to live my life a quarter-mile at a time, but things change" as his character dotes on his young son (who is called Brian, naturally), but it introduces John Cena to the series as Dom's younger brother Jakob.

Don't expect a happy sibling reunion, however, with Cena playing the film's villain. Via text on-screen, the trailer also tells viewers that "not all blood is family" — which means that all this flick's outlandish action stunts will pit Dom and the crew against Jakob, who has teamed up with returning criminal mastermind Cypher (Charlize Theron).

Basically, they could've called this film Fast and Furious: More Stunts and More Family, which is exactly what the trailer serves up. Of course, that's what's made this franchise a huge box-office success for almost two decades now — and those action scenes, while typically defying logic, physics and gravity, are always expertly, astonishingly and entertainingly choreographed.

As well as Diesel, Rodriguez, Brewster, Cena, Theron and Mirren, F9 also stars franchise mainstays Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris, as well as another returning fan favourite that's revealed in the trailer — plus Game of Thrones' Nathalie Emmanuel, who joined the series back in 2015's Furious 7 and is now considered part of Dom's family. And, after a two-film absence, the movie marks the return of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6 director Justin Lin. The filmmaker is also signed up to helm the upcoming tenth F&F flick, which was always inevitable, and will release just a year after this one hits.

Check out the trailer for F9 below:

F9 was originally due to open in Australian cinemas on May 21, 2020, and then on April 1, 2021; however it'll now release on May 27, 2021.

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