The Furious will open wide in theaters in the United States and Hong Kong on June 12, 2026, after the film’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall and a brief scheduling push from late May.
Critics who saw the film at festivals have handed it unusually enthusiastic notices ahead of the release, and the movie currently carries a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviewers singled out the combat work: one critic called the director-choreographer’s sequences among the most impressive fight scenes in years, while others said the nonstop violence cements the film as a top action contender for the decade and praised the choreography as the most “insane” fights they’d seen.
That praise centers on Kenji Tanigaki, whose name will be the main draw for viewers who follow action cinema. Tanigaki’s career stretches back to the early 1990s; he’s known for action direction on the 2012 Rurouni Kenshin films and their sequels, has directed features including Enter the Fat Dragon, and has won two Hong Kong Film Awards for Raging Fire and Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In.
On screen, The Furious stars Xie Miao and Joe Taslim. The story follows a tradesman whose daughter is kidnapped by a criminal empire and the rescue mission he mounts with the help of a journalist. The film was made in Hong Kong but is English-language, a production choice that increases its accessibility for U.S. audiences ahead of the June wide release.
The scheduling detail matters. The film was originally set to open in late May but was pushed to June 12, a move that gives distributors a clear weekend slot in two major markets at once. For fans and casual viewers alike, that means the first broad public reactions and box-office signals will arrive the weekend of June 12–14.
Not all the advance attention is unqualified. Alongside the choreography praise, a number of critics have signaled that plot and dialogue are not flawless — a point that sits oddly with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, but reflects the way specialty critics often weight style and stuntcraft highest for action films. That mismatch is the story’s friction: lauded fight design versus an imperfect script.
Practically, what audiences need to know is straightforward: The Furious opens wide in the United States and Hong Kong on June 12, 2026. Fans drawn by the festival buzz should expect a film built around extended physical sequences rather than a line-by-line screenplay showcase. If you prioritize choreography and kinetic staging, the movie delivers the sequences critics singled out; if you prize narrative polish, you may notice the imperfections some reviewers flagged.
Where the film goes from here depends on the wider audience. Theatrical release will bring an audience score and box-office returns that critics cannot, and those metrics will determine whether festival enthusiasm turns into mainstream momentum. Because the film is English-language and stars recognizable action performers, it is positioned to capture both martial-arts aficionados and general action crowds in the U.S. and Hong Kong.
Given the facts on hand — a TIFF debut, a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating, unanimous critical attention to Tanigaki’s choreography, and a synchronized June 12 opening in two key markets — The Furious is likely to generate strong word-of-mouth among action fans and secure solid turnout at first release. The more consequential judgement is how broadly that enthusiasm spreads: if the movie’s script issues noted by critics limit crossover appeal, audience scores could split between high marks from stunt-minded viewers and cooler responses from those seeking tighter plotting.
The next clear milestone is the weekend of June 12, 2026, when theatergoers will provide the decisive answer. For now, The Furious arrives in theaters with festival cachet and overwhelming critical applause for its fight work — and with a genuine question over whether mainstream audiences will reward style more than story.
