Soon after the passing of Paul Walker, the team behind FAST & FURIOUS 7 have been in major discussions on the fate of the film. While it was announced that production on the film would continue, there was still no word on how such a tragic event would factor in to the plot.
Currently, Universal along with the producers and director James Wan are discussing the many options and trying to decide what the best route is to take. One of the options is to completely start over. This would not be an issue as the studio is insured for unexpected losses. One insider said they were considering leaving out Walker’s character, Brian O’Conner but another insider said this was not an option.
It’s being said that a decision is still several weeks away as the team wants to get the movie right and not rush into it. Insiders are saying that they want to preserve the integrity of the franchise but don’t want to force anything. However, they are also saying that it’s hard to envision not revolving the story around O’Conner. That said, they don’t seem to keen on using any CGI effects to insert Walker into the movie. Another reason the decision is so difficult has to do with the amount of people involved on the production. From the looks of it, it’s likely that the studio will start from scratch.
On another note, the studio has announced that they will be donating a portion of the DVD & Blu-Ray sales from FAST & FURIOUS 6 to Walker’s charity “Reach Out Worldwide”. The charity consists of “a network of professionals with first responder skill-sets who augment local expertise when natural disasters strike in order to accelerate relief efforts.” The actor created the charity after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. FAST & FURIOUS 6 releases on DVD & Blu-Ray on December 10, 2013.