'F9' To Play At The Cannes Film Festival, Finally Establishing The Series As A True Work Of Art

We did it, boys. Living life a quarter mile at a time has finally brought us to the finish line: the Cannes Film Festival. A film festival so prestigious that women are forced to wear heels at screenings, Cannes has always been upheld as the pinnacle of the festival circuit, awarding all-time classics like Parasite, Apocalypse Now, and more. So it's always funny when a blockbuster manages to infiltrate the festival, like when Shrek competed for the Palme D'Or or Trolls did this.

Now the Fast and the Furious franchise joins their ranks, with F9 confirmed to be playing at Cannes.

Last month, Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux teased that a "planetary blockbuster" would be heading to the Cannes Film Festival. The latest James Bond installment No Time to Die was ruled out, as were Dune (which already is set to play at the Venice Film Festival) and Steven Spielberg's West Side Story. So what could it possible be?

Well, Variety confirmed this "planetary blockbuster" is none other than...F9. That's right, the ninth installment of the franchise in which cars go vroom and Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson compete over which one gets to punch more.

I'll be honest, F9 feels like a completely left-field choice for Cannes. A movie I enjoyed in spite of its exceptional silliness, F9 might be a return to form for the franchise, but it's not nearly close to the best movie of the series (that honor goes to Fast Five, though Tokyo Drift holds a special place in my heart). But maybe Diesel's long-running campaign to get a Fast and Furious movie nominated for an Oscar has finally come to fruition. Or the Cannes organizers have a fondness for Corona beer. Regardless, it looks like they'll be invited to the next cookout, and all the snooty Cannes attendees will get to watch Vin Diesel's crew send a car up to the moon.

F9 will be released in U.S. theaters on June 25, 2021.

Dom Toretto is living the quiet life off the grid with Letty and his son, but they know that danger always lurks just over the peaceful horizon. This time, that threat forces Dom to confront the sins of his past to save those he loves most. His crew soon comes together to stop a world-shattering plot by the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they've ever encountered — Dom's forsaken brother.