20 Incredible Facts You Didn't Know About 2021's Biggest Movies

One of the major, unexpected complications of the pandemic for Hollywood has related to product placements, that if films are pushed back far enough the placement deals may become out of date.

No Time to Die was rumoured to be considering reshoots to update some of its now-outdated tech product placements, though surely the most egregious example occurred in F9.

The latest entry into the Fast Saga included a paid placement for the Hydrogen One smartphone, which is prominently placed on Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty's (Michelle Rodriguez) dashboard during an early car chase and featured in several other scenes.

F9 began shooting in June 2019, but by the time it had wrapped that November, the phone had flopped and been discontinued. Due to the pandemic, F9 didn't end up releasing until June 2021 in most of the world, more than 18 months after the phone was dead meat.

Granted, the product placement would've been redundant even if the film had hit its original planned spring 2020 release date, but shilling for a product that's been off the market for more than a year-and-a-half is something else.

Hilariously, the Hydrogen One also appeared more recently in Netflix's Don't Look Up, though in this case the inclusion of an off-the-market device was very much intentional.

Director Adam McKay wanted to use a phone with a unique, futuristic look, and the Hydrogen One fit the bill perfectly.