Earlier in the week, the news fueled a discussion to be had by all, when it occurred to fans that the film had been left half-produced in the wake of the actor's passing. Would the producers continue without him? Would they be total bastards and write out his character in a car wreck? I hope not.
There's no way you can kill off the character of a late actor without it being ugly, quite frankly. Ugly or tear-jerkingly tacky and cheesy. I lament the possibilities, although I would want the best possible outcome.
However, filming is big business, and when you make movies for an industry major such as Universal, the show will inevitably go on. Universal had already reportedly pumped approximately $100 million into F&F7 after the previous sequel pummeled the box office for a reported $788 million of its lunch money in what turned out to be the most successful installment in the franchise. They will want their money back.
And that recently most ugly word—franchise—is the reality. Over the years, Fast & Furious has gone from a modestly successful cash cow to something that gathered great momentum once O'Connor and Toretto returned. Bringing back other original favorites—Mia, Letty, Roman, and Han—was like building their own superstar crew of Expendables. Bringing in Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Hobbs rocketed the F&F team's popularity through the roof.
The addition of Jason Statham, Tony Jaa, and Kurt Russell for this latest installment was sure to break all records. Statham alone creates an impact and adds style to any action movie. Jaa is a freakin' martial arts God. And Russell is old school action cool, who also makes a great villain.
So it's not such a gamble to infer that Universal won't indefinitely scrap F&F7. It still has way too much to lose, this being one highly anticipated movie before Walker's tragic death. Its July 2014 release date may be a pipe dream, but the studio is rightfully taking a time out, at least, to let its employees grieve and recollect, and also to see how the film itself can move on. Rewrites and re-shoots are going to be extensive if they do carry on.
As for the leaks of Vin Diesel shooting O'Connor's funeral already, I'd like to point something else out to put you at ease: a photo of Paul Walker with his back to the camera during the same scene people are jabbering on about. This begs those crazy fools the question, "Why the hell would they be filming O'Connor's funeral scene in the same week that the actor died?" Nobody is that cold! The funeral scene seems to be for another fan favorite character.
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| Is that not Paul Walker on the far right? |
Sound off, Fanboys. Should they? Comments below and thank you for reading.
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