2021’s been an unusual year for the theatrical industry, because while theaters have been able to reopen following having their doors closed for most of 2020, the pandemic rages on. As such, some movies haven’t performed as well on the big screen as expected, while there are a handful who’ve been quite successful given the circumstances. An example of the latter is the ninth Fast & Furious movie, a.k.a. F9, which about to cross the $700 million mark.
At the time of this writing, F9 has pulled in over $172 million domestically and over $524 million internationally, adding up to approximately $696.7 million worldwide and making it the second highest-grossing movie of the year, per Box Office Mojo. So it won’t be much longer until that total surpasses $700 million (maybe it’s happening as you read this), making F9 the first Hollywood picture in 2021 to cross that threshold. So far the only movie to surpass that amount is the Chinese picture Hi, Mom, which has raked in $848 million. The next highest-grossing Hollywood movie of the year is Godzilla vs. Kong at $467.8 million, followed by Black Widow at $369.9 million (not including the money it earned from Disney+ Premier Access).
To be sure, F9 hitting $700 million is a far cry from the last two entries in the main Fast & Furious film series, Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious, both crossing $1 billion. Nevertheless, considering all the health and safety measures movie theaters have put in place to properly serve patrons, including social distancing, it’s impressive that F9 has made it this far on the commercial front. It’s the fifth highest-grossing Fast & Furious entry, trailing behind the aforementioned movies, Fast & Furious 6 at $788.6 million and Hobbs & Shaw at $759 million.
Had the pandemic not unfolded, F9 would have been released on May 22, 2020, but it was among the first movies to be delayed once COVID-19 started wrecking havoc on everyday life. First it was moved to April 2, 2021, then it got pushed to May 28, 2021, and then it finally landed on its final June 25, 2021 release slot. F9 was also made available for digital rental a month after it premiered on the big screen.
A lot was packed into F9, from John Cena debuting as Dominic and Mia Toretto’s brother Jakob, to Sung Kang’s Han Lue returning after previously being thought to be dead. I won’t share any spoilers here for those who haven’t seen the movie yet, though our ending breakdown and post-credits scene feature are available for those who need extra info on how F9 wrapped up. Either way, we’re not entering the beginning of the end, as the main Fast & Furious film series will end after two more movies, though the franchise as a whole will continue to stay afloat with various spinoffs. Fast & Furious 10 is scheduled for April 7, 2023, and both it and Fast & Furious 11 will be directed by Justin Lin.
There’s still time to catch F9 in theaters now, but for those who are a fan of physical media, the Blu-ray and DVD copies will arrive on September 21. Keep track of movies still to come for the remainder of the year with our 2021 release schedule.
