F9 (film)

F9
File:F9 film poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Justin Lin
Produced by	Neal H. Moritz Vin Diesel Jeff Kirschenbaum Joe Roth Justin Lin Clayton Townsend Samantha Vincent
Screenplay by	Daniel Casey Justin Lin
Story by	Justin Lin Alfredo Botello Daniel Casey
Based on	Characters by Gary Scott Thompson
Starring	Vin Diesel Michelle Rodriguez Tyrese Gibson Ludacris John Cena Jordana Brewster Nathalie Emmanuel Sung Kang Michael Rooker Helen Mirren Kurt Russell Charlize Theron
Music by	Brian Tyler
Cinematography	Stephen F. Windon
Edited by	Greg D'Auria Dylan Highsmith Kelly Matsumoto
Production company	Original Film One Race Films Roth/Kirschenbaum Films Perfect Storm Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	May 19, 2021 (2021-05-19) (International) June 25, 2021 (2021-06-25) (United States)
Running time	145 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$200 million+
Box office	$352.1 million

F9 (also known as F9: The Fast Saga and Fast & Furious 9) is a 2021 American action film directed by Justin Lin, who also wrote the screenplay with Daniel Casey. It is the sequel to The Fate of the Furious (2017), the ninth main installment, and the tenth full-length film released overall in the Fast & Furious franchise. The first film since Fast & Furious 6 (2013) to be directed by Lin and the first since 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) not to be written by Chris Morgan, F9 stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Michael Rooker, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell, and Charlize Theron. In the film, Dominic Toretto and the team come together to stop a world-shattering plot headed by Toretto's brother, Jakob.

With a ninth and tenth film confirmed since 2014, Lin was confirmed to be returning to direct F9 in October 2017. Cena joined the cast in June 2019 and principal photography began that same month and lasted until that November, with filming locations including London, Los Angeles, Tbilisi, and Thailand.

F9 was originally scheduled for worldwide release in April 2020, but was delayed several times, first due to the releases of Hobbs & Shaw (2019) and No Time to Die (2021), and then the COVID-19 pandemic. It premiered in South Korea and was released internationally on May 19, 2021, and released in the United States on June 25. The film received mixed reviews with praise for the stunts and Lin's direction but criticism for its unrealistic action sequences and formulaic script. It has grossed over $352 million worldwide, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2021.

Plot

In 1989, Jack Toretto participates in a race, with his sons Dominic and Jakob in his pit crew. Dom argues with rival racer Kenny Linder about his dirty tactics. As the race resumes, Linder's car clips Jack’s bumper and causes the car to hit a wall and explode, killing Jack. After the crash, Linder has an altercation with Dom, who nearly beats him to death. Dom gets arrested and while serving his sentence, Dom recalls that Jakob had worked on Jack's car the day he died, and realizes that Jakob is responsible for his death. Upon release, Dom confronts and challenges Jakob to a race, forcing him to leave town when he loses.

In the present, Dom is retired, raising his son Brian with his wife, Letty Ortiz. Roman Pearce, Tej Parker, and Ramsey arrive with news of Mr. Nobody capturing Cipher, with his plane attacked by rogue agents. The plane crashed in Montecito, Central America, and the team asks for his help in investigating it. Replaying the distress signal, Dom realizes Jakob is involved. Searching the plane, they find part of a device named Ares, which can hack into any computer weapons system but are attacked by a private army and Jakob, who steals the device. The team rendezvous with Michael Stasiak en route to their safe house. Dom is reluctantly joined by Mia Toretto, who wishes to help. The team learns that Han Lue is alive, and working with Mr. Nobody.

Meanwhile, Jakob meets with Otto, his associate. Cipher is held at their base and, after failing to sway Jakob, tells him the other half of Ares is in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Dom meets Buddy, who took Jakob in after his exile, and learns that Jakob is in London. Letty and Mia search for Han in Tokyo and encounter him and his ward Elle. Roman and Tej recruit Sean Boswell, Twinkie, and Earl Hu, who has been working on a rocket car. In London, Dom meets Queenie Shaw, who gives him Jakob's location. Dom confronts Otto and Jakob, who tells Dom to leave. Otto has Dom arrested, but Leysa, an old friend of Dom, helps him escape.

Tej, Roman, and Ramsey join Dom in Edinburgh, where Jakob is using an electromagnetic field to steal the second Ares device. Tej and Roman find the truck containing the electromagnet; as they fight Otto's men, Ramsey commandeers the truck to chase after Otto. Dom intercepts Jakob and the two fight throughout the city. Before Otto can extract Jakob, Ramsey runs his car off the road, and Dom uses the electromagnet to capture Jakob.

Otto recruits Cipher. At the safe house, Han reveals he was assigned to protect Elle and Ares, as Elle's DNA is its final component. When one of Mr. Nobody's agents went rogue, they used Deckard Shaw to fake Han's death, for him to protect Elle. Otto attacks the safe house and frees Jakob, who had been Mr. Nobody's rogue agent. Jakob reveals that their father had planned to fake his death to escape his massive debt, so he had Jakob tamper with his car, but the plan went awry, causing the car to explode, killing him. Jakob and Otto kidnap Elle and take the second Ares device.

Otto launches a satellite into orbit, while Jakob has Elle activate Ares. They begin uploading Ares to the satellite, moving throughout Tbilisi in an armored truck. Dom, Letty, Mia, Ramsey, and Han give chase to rescue Elle and stop the upload. As Mia and Han try to breach the truck, Jakob is betrayed by Otto, and thrown off the truck. Dom and Mia save him, and Jakob uses Mia's car to escape but returns to help Dom enter the truck. Using the rocket car, Tej and Roman enter orbit and destroy the satellite, stopping the upload. Cipher remotely pilots a jet to bomb the truck, attempting to kill Dom but kills Otto instead, and the ricocheting truck destroys Cipher's drone plane. Dom and Mia reconcile with Jakob and allow him to escape in Dom's car. A spaceship returns Tej and Roman to Earth.

The team celebrates their success with a barbecue. While preparing to say grace, Brian O'Conner arrives on his car in the driveway. In a mid-credits scene, Deckard is surprised when Han arrives at his door.

Cast

Further information on the characters: List of Fast & Furious characters

• Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, a former criminal and professional street racer who has retired and settled down with his wife, Letty, and his son, Brian Marcos.
  • Vinnie Bennett portrays young Dominic.
• Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz, Dom's wife, and a former criminal and professional street racer.
• Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce, an ex-habitual offender and a member of Dom's team.
• Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as Tej Parker, a mechanic from Miami and a member of Dom's team.
• John Cena as Jakob Toretto, Dom and Mia's brother who is working as a master thief, assassin, and a high-performance driver.
  • Finn Cole portrays young Jakob.
• Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto, Dom and Jakob's sister and a former member of his team who has settled down with her partner, Brian O'Conner, and their two children.
• Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey, a British computer hacktivist and a member of Dom's team.
• Sung Kang as Han Lue, a former member of Dom's team who was believed to have been killed.
• Michael Rooker as Buddy.
• Helen Mirren as Magdalene "Queenie" Shaw, the mother of Dom's former enemies Owen and Deckard.
• Kurt Russell as Mr. Nobody, an intelligence operative and the leader of a covert ops team.
• Charlize Theron as Cipher, a criminal mastermind and cyberterrorist who teams up with Jakob.

Additionally, Anna Sawai portrays Elle, Thue Ersted Rasmussen portrays Otto, J. D. Pardo portrays Jack Toretto, Jim Parrack portrays Kenny Linder, Martyn Ford portrays Sue, and Cardi B portrays Leysa, a woman who shares history with Dom.

Lucas Black reprises his role as Sean Boswell from previous films, while Bow Wow and Jason Tobin also reprise their roles as Twinkie and Earl Hu from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), respectively. Don Omar and Shea Whigham also reprise their roles as Santos and Agent Stasiak from previous films. Cered and Ozuna portray young versions of Leo and Santos, respectively. Gal Gadot briefly reprises her role as Gisele Yashar, via uncredited archive footage of Fast & Furious 6, and Jason Statham makes an uncredited cameo during the end credits as Deckard Shaw.

Production

Development

In November 2014, Universal Pictures chairwoman Donna Langley told The Hollywood Reporter that there would be at least three more films in the franchise after Furious 7 (2015). In October 2017, Diesel revealed in a Facebook live video that Justin Lin, who directed from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift through Fast & Furious 6, would be returning for the ninth and tenth films. In May 2018, Daniel Casey was hired to write the screenplay after Morgan left due to his work on the Hobbs and Shaw spin-off film.

Casting

In April 2017, Diesel and Dwayne Johnson confirmed their returns. In October 2017, Jordana Brewster, who portrayed Mia Toretto in five of the franchise's films, would be returning for the ninth and tenth films. On April 4, 2018, Johnson stated that he was unsure if he was returning for the ninth film due to working on the spin-off, and he confirmed in January 2019 that he would not be appearing in the film.

In June 2019, John Cena was officially cast in the film, after an initial announcement from Diesel in April. In July 2019, Finn Cole, Anna Sawai, and Vinnie Bennett joined the cast of the film. That same month, it was announced Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron would reprise their roles, with Michelle Rodriguez was also confirmed to reprise her role. Michael Rooker and MMA Fighter Francis Ngannou were added to the cast in August. In October 2019, Ozuna and Cardi B joined the cast of the film.

Filming

Principal photography began on June 24, 2019, at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, England. Filming took place in Los Angeles, Edinburgh, and London, and also took place in Thailand for the first time, with Krabi, Ko Pha-ngan, and Phuket used as locations. Part of the film was also shot in Tbilisi, Georgia. Filming wrapped on November 11, 2019.

In July 2019, stuntman Joe Watts, who doubled for Diesel, sustained a serious head injury during filming at Leavesden Studios. In September 2020, Michelle Rodriguez confirmed the film would be set in outer space as well, which was teased by Diesel.

Music

On July 31, 2020, a mixtape titled Road to F9 was released, and features music inspired by the film. The mixtape was preceded by the lead single "One Shot" by YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Lil Baby. The official soundtrack was released on June 17, 2021.

F9
Soundtrack album by various artists
Released	June 17, 2021
Label	Atlantic Universal
Fast & Furious soundtrack chronology
The Fate of the Furious: The Album (2017) F9 (2021)

F9 track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fast Lane" (Don Toliver, Lil Durk, Latto)
2.	"Lane Switcha" (Skepta and Pop Smoke featuring ASAP Rocky, Juicy J and Project Pat)
3.	"Hit Em Hard" (Offset, Trippie Redd, Kevin Gates, Lil Durk and King Von)
4.	"I Won" (Ty Dolla Sign, Jack Harlow, 24kGoldn)
5.	"Rapido" (Amenazzy, Farruko, Myke Towers, Rochy RD)
6.	"Breathe (Liam H and René LaVice Re-Amp)" (The Prodigy featuring RZA)
7.	"Real" (Justin Quiles, Dalex, Konshens)
8.	"Bussin Bussin" (Lil Tecca)
9.	"Furiosa" (Anitta)
10.	"Ride da Night" (Kevin Gates featuring Polo G and Teejay3k)
11.	"Bushido" (Good Gas and JP the Wavy)
12.	"Speed It Up" (NLE Choppa featuring Rico Nasty)
13.	"Mala" (Jarina De Marco)
14.	"Exotic Race" (Murci featuring Sean Paul and Dixson Waz)

Charts

Chart performance for F9 soundtrack

Chart (2021)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	29

Release

F9 had its world premiere in South Korea on May 19, 2021, and was released in the United States on June 25. The film had five previous release dates in the United States between 2019 and 2021; primarily changed due to the releases of Hobbs & Shaw and No Time to Die as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, before moving to its current date.

Reception

Box office

As of June 27, 2021, F9 has grossed $58.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $293.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $352.1 million.

In the United States and Canada, F9 is projected to gross $55–65 million from 4,179 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $30 million on its first day (including $7.1 million from Thursday night previews), both the best totals of the pandemic.

Over its five-day international opening weekend, F9 was projected to gross $160–180 million from eight countries, including China, Russia, and South Korea. It went on to debut to $163 million, the biggest international opening for a Hollywood film since the pandemic began in March 2020. It also set the pandemic-record for IMAX gross ($14 million), and was the second-biggest May international opening ever, despite playing in 26 fewer countries than the current record holder, Captain America: Civil War. The top markets from the weekend were China ($136 million; the second biggest-ever opening of the franchise in the country), South Korea ($9.9 million), Russia ($8.3 million), Saudi Arabia ($2.67 million), and the UAE ($2.64 million). In its second weekend of international release the film made $30.8 million, including $20.3 million (-85%) in China and $3.7 million (-42%) in South Korea.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 60% of 215 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5.70/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "F9 sends the franchise hurtling further over the top than ever, but director Justin Lin's knack for preposterous set pieces keeps the action humming." According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average of 59 out of 100 based on 47 critics, the film received "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest of the series since the first film. PostTrak reported 80% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 62% saying they would definitely recommend it.

From TheWrap, Alonso Duralde summarized the film by writing that "Physics, gravity, and logic in general have long since been thrown out the window, but the jolts of pleasure keep coming." Variety's Owen Gleiberman found one of the opening scenes to be "the suspenseful high point of the movie" and wrote, "The scene is so over-the-top ludicrous that it's if the filmmakers were saying, 'Let's put what would have been the grand climax of Fast and Furious 4 in the opening half hour.' Good enough. But what do you do for an encore?"

Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, John DeFore said that the feature "probably sounds like more fun than it is", and concluded his generally negative review by saying that "Furious 7 was a lot more fun. And, not that anyone cares, but it was more believable as well." Meanwhile, IndieWire gave a more positive response with a C+ rating, and praised Lin's direction, writing, "This is a movie that sling-shots so far past self-parody that it loops all the way back to something real."

Future

F9 will be followed by a tenth installment. In October 2020, it was revealed that the series will conclude with a tenth and an eleventh installment, with Lin set to direct and the cast set to return for both.

External links

• F9 at IMDb
• Official website