Vin Diesel 'races' back to Chinese screens

Perhaps the biggest upcoming blockbuster in May, Universal Pictures' F9 will open across the Chinese mainland on May 21.

Ongoing for 20 years with eight installments and one sidestory, the Fast and the Furious franchise, which started with humbler beginnings as a street racing series, has become one of the most familiar Hollywood action films to domestic audiences.

Two of the films have earned more in China than in the United States, 2017's The Fate of the Furious and 2019's spin-off Hobbs & Shaw.

During a recent online interview, Justin Lin, who has directed five of the Fast films, says global fans' expectations was one of the biggest draws to helm the latest sequel.

"What's most special about F9is that there's a lot of unanswered questions in the previous eight chapters. I think we get to really explore those," Lin said.

In the new film, Dominic Toretto, a patriarch of a group of street racers, and his crew will face off a new nemesis, his disowned brother who has walked a very different path.

Earlier reports said the franchise will end after two more films.

Vin Diesel, who plays Toretto, shared his daughter's reaction to this decision during the same interview.

"When my daughter heard the 10th story would be the last which is broken into two films, she started crying and I can't tell you how bad I felt. I tried to console her but she just didn't want to hear that this saga could finally have a finale," Diesel said.

Unlike some Hollywood blockbusters such as Disney's Mulan and Warner Bros.' Godzilla vs Kong, which opened online and in theaters, F9 will only be released in theaters, according to recent foreign media reports.

The Chinese mainland release date is more than one month earlier than its North American opening, which will start June 25.

"To be a part of the return to the theatrical experience is something that feels so right… You can feel the rumble of excitement and the emotion in the theater buildings," Diesel said.

Michelle Rodriguez, who will reprise her character of Leticia "Letty" Ortiz, the wife of Dominic Toretto, said she's proud of the "female presence in the franchise" and appreciates that it features strong women on the silver screen.

As one of the most anticipated films next month, the film has received widespread attention, exemplified by the more than 65,000 netizens marking the movie on their must-see list on the popular review site Douban.