Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren are set to return for “Fast & Furious 9,” Vin Diesel has announced.
The actresses will be joining Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, and John Cena. “Fast & Furious 9” is scheduled to be released on May 22, 2020 by Universal Pictures.
Theron will again play the cyberterrorist Cipher, who was unveiled in the 2017 movie “Fate of the Furious.” Mirren’s character was also introduced in that film as Magdalene Shaw, the mother of Jason Statham’s character Deckard Shaw.
Earlier this year, Universal Pictures shifted “Fast & Furious 9” back six weeks from April 10 to May 22, 2020 — the start of the Memorial Day weekend. MGM has slotted Bond 25 on April 8, 2002. “Fast & Furious 9” will face Paramount’s “The Spongebob Movie.”
The eighth movie in the franchise, “The Fate of the Furious,” stunned Hollywood in 2017, grossing $1.2 billion worldwide. It was directed by F. Gary Gray and starred Diesel, Mirren, Theron, Johnson, Statham, Rodriguez, Gibson, Bridges, Scott Eastwood, Emmanuel, Elsa Pataky, Kurt Russell, and Theron.
The eight films in the franchise, launched in 2001, have collectively grossed more than $5 billion worldwide. “Furious 7,” which featured the late Paul Walker’s final appearance, is the top performer, having hauled $1.5 billion globally.
The first spinoff title, “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” hits theaters on Aug. 2. The film pairs Johnson’s former U.S. Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs and Statham’s ex-MI6 agent Deckard Shaw, joining forces to take on Idris Elba’s international terrorist Brixton. Mirren is also starring in “Hobbs & Shaw.”
Diesel unveiled the Theron and Mirren castings Monday in an Instagram post: