The lucrative Fast and Furious action movie franchise was in the midst of filming its seventh installment when main actor Paul Walker tragically died in a car accident on November 30.
As news of the action star’s death sent shockwaves through Hollywood, the future of the mega-hit franchise currently hangs in the balance as filmmakers must consider how to proceed without one of their biggest stars.
Walker, 40, was killed in a single car crash in Southern California on Saturday, after the Porsche he was riding in flew off the road and hit a tree, killing him and the driver, Roger Rodas, in a fiery explosion - a rep for the actor confirmed. He was a main character in six of the seven Fast films to date — all except the third installment, Tokyo Drift.
The franchise also stars Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Michelle Rodriguez and Dwayne Johnson. The films have grossed more than $2 billion worldwide, according to Boxofficemojo.com.
Recently Universal Pictures announced that the seventh film was slated for a July 11, 2014 release date.
Production on Fast & Furious 7 is ongoing, a source close to the film told BuzzFeed, but Universal has not made any official announcements about how the film will be affected.
There will likely be a “halt in production” as the film undergoes rewrites, but also because some of the cast are “too distraught” to return to work.
Diesel, 46, tweeted that he was “absolutely speechless” upon learning about the passing of his “brother,” while Gibson, 34, echoed the sentiment on his Facebook page.
While the Fast & Furious films have routinely been some of the biggest box office draws each summer, Walker’s fans could be deterred by the irony of his death. His on-screen character, Brian O’Conner, shared many similarities with the actor’s real life as a fast car aficionado.
