FAST & FURIOUS 9 Delayed By A Year Thanks To, You Guessed It, The Coronavirus

Hot on the heels of the news that Paramount has indefinitely delayed the release of John Krasinski's A Quiet Place Part II, Universal has just announced that it's shifting the release date of Justin Lin's Fast & Furious 9, from its previous May 2020 release date to...well, we're not seeing a firm date as of yet, but Variety says it's moving by "a year". Probably next Memorial Day weekend, then.

Variety goes on to say:

"Universal Studios, the company behind the “Fast & Furious” franchise, made the decision because of the impact that the fast-moving coronavirus is having on the global economy and the distribution landscape. Theaters remain closed in Italy, South Korea, and China, where the virus has hit hardest. There’s also a mounting sense that some theaters will close in the U.S. as the outbreak continues to spread."

This makes Fast & Furious 9 the third major studio release to be delayed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, following Cary Fukunaga's No Time to Die (moved from April to November) and Krasinski's A Quiet Place Part II (from next week until TBD). It is likely that we will see even more release dates shift as the situation continues to unfold, and of course we'll keep you abreast of those changes as they roll in.

Stay tuned for further updates as they roll in, and stay safe out there.