Paul Walker's death was tragic and ironic, but studios are now settling on pragmatic plans for his most recent and final projects…
In the wake of the tragic death of its star Paul Walker there has been much discussion about the futute of the Fast & Furious franchise that established his name. The production on the seventh chapter of the series was halted in the wake of Walker's death on November 30th. Walker was the passenger in a car driven by his friend and business partner Roger Rodas. Both men died of trauma injuries and burns after the Porsche crashed into a lamp-post in Santa Clarita.
Though it appeared that the release date for Fast & Furious 7 would have to be postponed as well, Universal have now stated that as things stand they still intend to meet that original date of Jult 11th 2014. This must still be considered open to change as it has been established that only half of Walker's scenes had been shot with none of the planned Middle east scenes yet shot. The inevitable continuation of the highly-profitable franchise has to be substantially rewritten to accomodate the real-life events – both pragmatically from Walker's absence but also as a matter of taste and decency given the nature of Walker's death in a fast car.
It has been announced that a portion of the profits from the sale of the Fast & Furious 6 DVD and blu-rays (just released) will go towards Reach out WorldWide, a global first-responding charity to disasters – one of the main charities that Walker supported. (You can ind out more about the organisation and how to contribute at: http://www.roww.org/ )
Hours, one of the last movies Walker had finished prior to his death is released in the US later this month. Brick Mansions, a remake of the French parkour-thriller District B13, will be in American cinemas in February (co-starring original star David Belle, Man with the Iron Fists' RZA and Robert Maillet (Haven, The Strain)
