Shanghai event to promote Fast & Furious 9 cancelled over ‘security threat’
- Universal Pictures, the film’s distributor, says it ‘received threats which attempted to prevent the event being held normally’
- The action blockbuster starring Vin Diesel is set to hit cinemas on Friday, having made over US$15 million in advance ticket sales in China
“Security remains our top priority. After careful consideration, we had no choice but to cancel the Fast & Furious 9 event, and reported the incident to law enforcement.”
The action blockbuster, which has made over 100 million yuan (US$15.5 million) in advance ticket sales in China, would open in cinemas on Friday as scheduled, the statement said. It is being released in China more than a month before its premiere in the United States, where it will open on June 25.
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“You, China, are going to see Fast & Furious 9 first,” lead actor Vin Diesel said in a live-streamed video interview on Tuesday. “And that is our way of saying ‘thank you China’ for always being a part of our family.”
He said that part of the next instalment of the series would be filmed in China.