‘Fast And Furious 7’ Footage Featuring Paul Walker Released By Universal
Universal chose Cinema Con to reveal some much anticipated footage of Fast And Furious 7 featuring the late actor Paul Walker, who was killed during a break in filming the movie in November of 2013.
For a while, it was uncertain what would become of one of the most lucrative franchises in movies.
Established in 2001, Fast And Furious follows the story of a group of friends that love to race fast cars. Throw in some beautiful women and exotic locations and you can understand why the previous six films have done so well with the public.
But Paul Walker’s death threw the production in a frenzy last November and they decided to suspend filming to give a the close knit cast and crew — many of whom are originals — some time to grieve and attend the 40-year-old’s funeral and the producers much needed time to figure out what would happen to Fast And Furious 7.
The production was about half way done when the unexpected tragic accident killed Walker — who plays Brian O’Conner — a central character to the films. Director James Wan and writer Chris Morgan would spend the next several months trying to come up with a way to say goodbye to Walker’s Fast And Furious character.
And they found a way, announcing O’Conner would be retired and he would just walk into the sunset. It was a touchy situation, since Fast And Furious 7 is based on race cars and Walker died on a Porsche that was doing over 90 mph, the studio has to be sensitive to fans and family of the late star.
Once the studio officially said they would move on with the Fast And Furious 7 production, much discussion ensued about how exactly they would deal with the scenes Walker left unfinished.
“They have hired four actors with bodies very similar to Paul’s physique and they will be used for movement and as a base,” an anonymous source said of the Fast And Furious 7 production and his scenes will be completed using “Paul’s face and voice,” with the use of CGI, plus the body doubles, IGN.com reported.
As in past Fast And Furious installments, Paul Walker and Vin Diesel are the main stars of the film and they feature heavily in the new footage. We also get a glimpse at the new faces in the Universal production, Jason Statham — who plays the villain Ian Shaw — and Kurt Russell, along with amazing action packed scenes such as parachuting cars. Same ‘ol, same ‘ol.
The biggest surprise is that there is nothing somber about what has been revealed of Fast And Furious 7, which is sure to attract even more viewers than usual to say goodbye to Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner on April 10, 2015.
[Image via Unviersal Studios]
