Nearly 15 years ago, Paul Walker and Vin Diesel co-starred in The Fast and The Furious, a car-racing thriller that would go on to launch an epic franchise with talk of three more movies and spinoffs on the way. This June 22 will mark that special anniversary of the very first film, and Universal is celebrating by re-releasing The Fast & The Furious in theaters.

According to the announcement trailer, the film will be back in theaters for Wednesday, June 22 only and pre-sales are already being taken by Fandango. Deadline reports that it will be a limited event with about 1,500 participating theaters. Said Nick Carpou, Universal’s distribution chief, in a statement explaining the re-release:

While we had the Back to the Future re-release synced to the day when Marty McFly and Doc Brown went back to the future on October 21, 2015, with The Fast and the Furious this is a case where it’s been 15 years and seven movies later. The fanbase has grown exponentially, particularly in the social media age and the re-release provides an opportunity for the most recent generation of fans to experience the first film on the big screen for the first time.


Directed by Rob Cohen, The Fast and The Furious first introduced Brian O’Connor (Walker), an L.A. police officer sent undercover in the world of street racing. Once there, he must decide where his loyalties truly lie when he’s wooed by the action, the camaraderie, and the lovely Mia (Jordana Brewster). As we already know, now heading into Furious 8, he chose racing.

This re-release will also have an emotional undercurrent with the death of Walker. A car accident tragically took his life on November 30, 2013, and the cast and his fans still look back on him and his career fondly.

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