‘Fast and Furious 7’ Shut Down By Universal In Light of Paul Walker’s Death

The shutdown of production for ‘Fast and Furious 7’ was a possibility most assumed would occur in light of actor Paul Walker’s death. Now, the inevitable has been confirmed. On Wednesday, Dec. 4, Universal Pictures issued a brief statement to US Weekly announcing that further production for the film would be halted indefinitely. The cast and film crew will be going on a hiatus to grieve.

“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,” the studio explained to US Weekly. “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.”

Walker was killed in a fiery car crash on Saturday, Nov. 30. At the time of his tragic death, he was on a holiday break from filming the seventh installment of the ‘Fast and Furious’ film franchise. According to the Associated Press, production was scheduled to resume Monday, Dec. 2 in Atlanta, GA after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Several of Walker’s ‘Fast and Furious’ co-stars have weighed in on the devastating loss. ‘Fast and Furious’ stars Tyrese and Vin Diesel both took a moment to visit the site where the fatal crash took place. Diesel attended the vigil that at the site on Sunday night. The ‘Chronicles of Riddick’ actor gave a heart-felt speech, expressing his gratitude for the fans who took the time to hold the vigil in Walker’s honor.

“If he could see for himself that all of you have shown up to show my brother love… at this hard time his family gets to see all of you show the love that you’ve shown Paul. It’s going to stay with me forever,” Diesel said. “I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for coming down here and showing that angel up in heaven how much you appreciate him.”

No further details have been released in regards to when or if production will resume. If production does resume, no release date has been determined.