‘Fast & Furious 7’: What Happens With Paul Walker Dead?

The Fast & Furious 7 cast just took a hit with Paul Walker’s death, so what will happen?

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Fast & Furious franchise is planned to continue in Paul Walker’s honor. There has also been rumor that the franchise might face problems in replacing the star, and has said they’re going on indefinite hiatus.

A Universal representative released the following statement on Paul Walker’s untimely and ironic death:

“All of us at Universal are heartbroken. Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the Fast and Furious films, and to countless fans. We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul’s family.”

The driver in the tragic car crash that killed Paul Walker has been reported as Roger Rodas, CEO of Always Evolving. The friends were killed in what was apparently a high speed crash in a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT. Paul was allegedly one of the owners of Always Evolving, a performance and racing company, and Mr. Rodas was a former race car driver. According to sources, both Paul Walker and Roger Rodas’ bodies were so badly burned they were nearly unidentifiable, and as such the autopsies are being delayed until dental records come in on the bodies.

The Fast & Furious franchise now faces the problem of how to continue the series without Paul Walker while honoring his memory. As the main character in a movie where his character’s death was not in any way planned, that poses some serious challenges for writers. The obvious solution seems to be a racing sequence that doesn’t require shots of the actor’s face, followed by a fitting tribute to the end of the character. The problem with that is that it will unfortunately echo the star’s actual death, a move that will likely hit a little too close to home for fans.

Another option would be to do a complete rewrite of the story so that Walker’s character has a quiet exit somewhere near the beginning. It’s possible they may be capable of working in some of the scenes already filmed for Fast & Furious 7, but it’s obvious the character can’t be part of the main story.

The only other choice I can see for continuing Fast & Furious 7 would be to go the CGI route. After all, computer animation has advanced to the point that a young Arnold Schwarzenegger could be featured in a Terminator movie — so it’s possible the role of Walker’s character could be augmented with voice synthesizing technology in order to digitally recreate Paul for some of the scenes that see him “retire” from the movie series.

Sources say that another problem will be the other actors involved in the film and their ability to continue filming after the tragedy:

“No one wants to even think about the movie. Period.”

With Paul Walker dead, how do you think the writers should solve any story problems now that the Fast & Furious 7 cast is missing a main character?