In the wake of Paul Walker’s death, it was reported that Universal Pictures had decided to continue production on the seventh instalment of the Fast & Furious franchise, which was midway through production when the actor tragically lost his life in a car crash this past weekend.
However, The Wrap is now suggesting that the studio is considering scrapping production on Fast & Furious 7, with a view to starting over from scratch. It’s said that cost is not an issue, with the $200 million sequel insured against unexpected losses, and that the producers and director James Wan “have been in constant consultation this week to decide on different options.”
Apparently the discussions have shifted away from the possibility of using CGI to digitally add Walker’s face to another actor (much like Ridley Scott did with Oliver Reed on Gladiator), and Universal is said to be concerned about “cobbling together a new storyline using the already filmed elements”, which could be more difficult than coming up with a new storyline altogether.
Fast & Furious 7 is currently set for release on July 11th 2014, but with a decision on how to proceed likely to take weeks, it would seem that there’s a good chance this date will end up getting pushed back…
UPDATE: Well, as expected, Universal Pictures has now formally announced that production on Fast & Furious 7 has been postponed indefinitely, with the studio releasing the following statement:
“Right now, all of us at Universal are dedicated to providing support to Paul’s immediate family and our extended Fast & Furious family of cast, crew and filmmakers. At this time we feel it is our responsibility to shut down production on Fast & Furious 7 for a period of time so we can assess all options available to move forward with the franchise. We are committed to keeping Fast & Furious fans informed, and we will provide further information to them when we have it. Until then, we know they join us in mourning the passing of our dear friend Paul Walker.”
Originally published December 4, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
