Universal Pictures delays Fast and Furious 10 from its original April 2023 release date to May of the same year, nearly two years after F9. The latest installment in the hit franchise saw Dom Toretto and his crew coming together to face off against returning villain Cypher and Dom’s estranged brother Jakob. Vin Diesel once again led the cast of F9: The Fast Saga alongside returning stars Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell and Charlize Theron.
F9: The Fast Saga also marked John Cena’s introduction into the franchise as Jakob Toretto while Sung Kang made a surprise return as Han Lue following his seeming demise in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious 6. Development on the next installments was confirmed in late 2020 as Universal Pictures announced plans to conclude the mainline Fast & Furious franchise with a tenth and eleventh film, both of which would be helmed by series vet Justin Lin. Though the former was racing to hit theaters in early 2023, it looks like Universal is shifting gears a bit.
A few months after the last film arrived in theaters, Deadline has brought word that Fast and Furious 10 has been delayed from its April 2023 release to May 19, 2023. Though no specific reason for the shift has been given by the studio, its new date does place it closer to the beginning of the summer box office season between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid. Universal has since put an untitled DreamWorks Animation project in the vacated April release date.
It’s largely unclear as to why Universal has elected to delay Fast and Furious 10‘s release date, though a one-month shift shouldn’t be too much of a concern for audiences eager to see the next chapter of the franchise. A strong possibility for the decision stems from the studio’s hopes to recreate the box office success of F9: The Fast Saga, which opened in the international market on May 19, 2021 to over $163 million, the biggest international opening for any Hollywood film since the pandemic started in March 2020. The film also set a pandemic record in the five-day international opening weekend for IMAX with over $14 million, with its domestic release a month later largely matching these numbers and setting it as the fourth highest-grossing film of the year.
Though there may be no end to the pandemic in sight, Fast and Furious 10‘s theatrical release seems far more likely to outshine its predecessor at the box office, even with the competition of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 a few weeks prior and The Little Mermaid the following week. F9: The Fast Saga may have seen a more divisive reception from critics and audiences alike, it certainly established a number of exciting stories for the final two chapters in the mainline franchise. Fast and Furious 10 is now set to hit theaters on May 19, 2023 while 11 is currently undated.
