UNIVERSAL PICTURES ANNOUNCES “FAST FRIDAYS”

*NEWS RELEASE*

TO CELEBRATE THE ARRIVAL OF F9 IN THEATERS JUNE 25 UNIVERSAL PICTURES ANNOUNCES

“FAST FRIDAYS” EIGHT WEEKS OF FREE NATIONWIDE SCREENINGS OF EVERY PREVIOUS FAST & FURIOUS FILM

TO THANK FAST FANS AND TO WELCOME AUDIENCES BACK TO MOVIES SELECT THEATERS WILL SCREEN A DIFFERENT FAST FILM EACH FRIDAY BEGINNING APRIL 30, 2021

“Fast Fridays” will launch in more than 500 U.S. theaters and will then expand to more than 900 theaters nationwide.

Each of the eight previous Fast films will screen each Friday in chronological order, beginning with 2001’s The Fast and the Furious on Friday, April 30. 

Visit https://link.edgepilot.com/s/4fb113b1/K33Y4bxQc0O09X75E_CJxg?u=http://www.fastfridayscreenings.com/ for information on participating theaters and for details on how to receive tickets

Universal City, Calif., April 23, 2021 — Universal Pictures announced today that to celebrate the arrival of F9, the newest chapter in the Fast and Furious Saga, in theaters June 25, the studio and its theater partners across the U.S. will launch a free nationwide screening series of all eight previous Fast films, beginning April 30, 2021. 

The eight-week program will invite fans to watch all eight previous Fast films in participating theaters, free of charge, with one film screening each Friday. The films will be screened in chronological order, beginning with 2001’s The Fast and the Furious on April 30 and culminating with 2017’s The Fate of the Furious on June 18. 

The screening series will launch in more than 500 theaters across the U.S. and will ultimately expand to more than 900 theaters. Theaters that join the screening series after April 30 will begin their screenings with whichever film is already scheduled to screen in that week. 

Participating theaters include AMC Theatres, Regal, Cinemark Theatres, Marcus Theatres, Harkins Theatres, Showcase Cinemas, Santikos Entertainment, B&B Theatres, Cinépolis USA, Georgia Theatre Company, Marquee Cinemas, Epic Theatres, EVO Cinemas, Megaplex Theatres, Maya Cinemas, Xscape Theatres, Silverspot Cinema, Golden Star Theaters, MovieScoop Cinemas and Premiere Cinemas.

Over the course of eight films that have stoked passion in an ever-expanding audience and have earned more than $5 billion at the worldwide box office, Universal Pictures’ record-smashing, homegrown Fast Saga has become the studio’s most-profitable and longest-running franchise. Across social media platforms, the fan following for the movies and cast has grown into the biggest of any active franchise. On the heels of 2017’s The Fate of the Furious, which debuted in theaters as the biggest global opening of all time, the blockbuster franchise has expanded to a multitude of offerings – from toys and video games to an all-new animated series and a successfully launched spin-off franchise. 

“The Fast films are all about family, and Universal wanted to find a way to thank our huge family of Fast fans around the country for their passion and loyalty over the past 20 years,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s President of Domestic Theatrical Distribution. “We’re grateful to our theater partners for their help in making this screening series possible and we are delighted to welcome audiences back to theaters to experience the wild Fast ride all over again. And we cannot wait to blow everyone’s minds with the release of F9 on June 25.” 

Screening tickets will be distributed by each individual theater and will be available the Friday before each weekly screening, starting on Friday, April 30.  

Visit https://link.edgepilot.com/s/4fb113b1/K33Y4bxQc0O09X75E_CJxg?u=http://www.fastfridayscreenings.com/ for further information on how to receive tickets.

The full schedule of screenings is as follows:

Friday, 4/30 – The Fast and the Furious

Friday, 5/7 – 2 Fast 2 Furious

Friday, 5/14 – The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Friday, 5/21 – Fast & Furious

Friday, 5/28 – Fast Five

Friday, 6/4 – Fast & Furious 6

Friday, 6/11 – Furious 7

Friday, 6/18 – The Fate of the Furious

In addition to the screening series, Entertainment Weekly’s popular BINGE Podcast will take fans through each of the previous Fast films in an eight-week series featuring exclusive conversations with the stars who brought those movies to life. Each episode will focus on one movie in the franchise with a Fast cast member from that particular film. Beginning April 30, a new episode will drop each “Fast Friday,” every week, leading up to the release of F9 on June 25.

Media Contacts:

Universal Pictures: Brad Mendelson, brad.mendelson@nbcuni.com, 818-913-1414 

About F9

No matter how fast you are, no one outruns their past. 

F9 is the ninth chapter in the Fast & Furious Saga, which has endured for two decades and has earned more than $5 billion around the world.  

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, the upcoming The Suicide Squad). 

F9 sees the return of Justin Lin as director, who helmed the third, fourth, fifth and sixth chapters of the series when it transformed into a global blockbuster. The action hurtles around the globe—from London to Tokyo, from Central America to Edinburgh, and from a secret bunker in Azerbaijan to the teeming streets of Tbilisi. Along the way, old friends will be resurrected, old foes will return, history will be rewritten, and the true meaning of family will be tested like never before.  

The film stars returning cast members Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster and Sung Kang, with Oscar^® winner Helen Mirren, with Kurt Russell and Oscar^® winner Charlize Theron. F9 also features Grammy-winning superstar Cardi B as new franchise character Leysa, a woman with a connection to Dom’s past, and a cameo by Reggaeton sensation Ozuna.  

F9 is produced by Neal H. Moritz p.g.a., Vin Diesel p.g.a., Justin Lin p.g.a., Jeff Kirschenbaum p.g.a., Joe Roth, Clayton Townsend p.g.a., and Samantha Vincent. Universal Pictures presents an Original Film/One Race Films/Perfect Storm production in association with Roth/Kirschenbaum Films, a Justin Lin film. https://link.edgepilot.com/s/358743ca/qKK9Qc-w20izP4fACd2nBg?u=http://www.thefastsaga.com/

About Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures is a division of Universal Studios (https://link.edgepilot.com/s/3b1d95cb/9iJ1Ly4bZkSiRanGaauOqQ?u=http://www.universalstudios.com/). Universal Studios is part of NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.