'F9' Opening In China Five Weeks Before Domestic Release

If you're a fan of the Fast and Furious franchise and you're also terrified of spoilers, I have some potentially bad news for you! F9, the latest logic-defying entry in the hit series, will open a full five weeks early in China. That means bootleg copies of the film might leak online, and the full synopsis – with spoilers – could very well end up somewhere like Wikipedia long before you even get a shot to buy a movie ticket. So consider this your warning.

The overseas market – especially China – has become a big deal for Hollywood blockbusters, and the folks at Universal know that. That's why they're debuting F9 a full five weeks early in China, on May 21, 2021. Forbes also notes that "the film will be debuting in various overseas territories the week of May 21, including hotspots like Russia, South Korea, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Vietnam."

Again: this isn't entirely unexpected. As Deadline adds: "China has, over the past several years, become the top overseas market for the franchise with more than $1B across five films including spinoff Hobbs & Shaw." The only issue here – if there's an issue at all – is the potential for spoilers. Universal clearly thinks that any spoilers leaking online won't matter in the long run, and they're probably right! I'm almost sure that if fans everywhere knew exactly how F9 ended they'd still go see it opening weekend, such is the power of the series.

That said, if you're particularly spoiler-phobic, you might want to take extra steps to guard yourself between May 21 and the domestic release date of June 25, because there's a very good chance that someone, somewhere, is going to let the cat out of the bag and give away some of the film's big secrets. In F9, "Vin Diesel's Dom Toretto is leading a quiet life off the grid with Letty and his son, little Brian, but they know that danger always lurks just over their peaceful horizon. This time, that threat will force Dom to confront the sins of his past if he's going to save those he loves most. His crew joins together to stop a world-shattering plot led by the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they've ever encountered: a man who also happens to be Dom's forsaken brother, Jakob (John Cena)."