It’s worth noting that last year, Universal struck up agreements with the AMC and Cinemark theater chains that allow for its movies to be sent to VOD following a shorter theatrical-exclusive window.
But even then, without enough movie theaters around the world being open, F9 would face an uphill battle pulling in anywhere near the amount of money its immediate predecessors collected.
Just look at how Tenet did last year during its time in theaters, or how Wonder Woman 1984 theatrically performed while it was available on HBO Max at the same time.
The studio hasn’t made a concrete decision on whether or not to pull F9 out of its current release slot, instead waiting to see on how the box office recovers in China, where the Fast & Furious franchise is incredibly popular.