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THERE ARE NO plans to call off the release of the next instalment in the ‘Fast & Furious’ movie franchise, in spite of the death in a car crash at the weekend of star Paul Walker.
The 40-year-old actor was killed instantly when a Porsche in which he was a passenger crashed in Santa Clarita, northwest of Los Angeles, on Saturday.
Trade magazine the Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Universal Studios executives met on Sunday morning to decide if the movie would to ahead. A source is quoted as saying it was agreed the film would not be abandoned.
Shooting on Fast 7 had been on hiatus over the Thanksgiving break, and cast and crew had been due back on set in Atlanta on Sunday. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the movie’s director and studio top brass held a meeting to decide whether rewrites would be needed and “how to proceed in a manner that would be respectful to Walker’s death”.
Most of the film has been completed at this stage, but there are still some scenes left to shoot.
Walker tweeted this photo of himself and his co-stars just hours before his death:
Meanwhile, police in the area where Walker died today warned fans against “burning rubber” near the spot where he was killed, as the investigation into the crash continued.
They issued the caution after reports of people pulling stunts on the stretch of road near the crash scene.
A makeshift shrine has sprung up at the place where the red sports car slammed into a tree and caught fire. Speed is believed to have been a factor in the accident, although investigators are also probing the burnt-out wreckage for evidence of any mechanical problems.
At least one witness has suggested that Walker and his 38-year-old friend, Roger Rodas, may have been drag-style racing at the time, according to CNN, although others have discounted such accounts.
This article includes reporting from AFP.
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Out of respect? Maybe
To continue making money? Most definitely!!!!
Nothing wrong with making money.
These are undoubtedly among the worst films ever made . Pure scutter…
They’re not meant to be good, they’re meant to be entertaining.
I’d Imagine Paul Walker (and or his family) would also like to see it go ahead anyway…. it’s his last piece of work….why leave it in a studio never to see the light of day. Also- nothing wrong with making money…. he was a very highly paid actor who profited from his art form too… and allowed him to indulge in his motor sports hobby.
Of course they’ll go ahead with film then know that it’ll be more lucrative now Walker is dead, like Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight.
Can’t believe Walker died on sat afternoon and film bosses were already in talks sun!
Whatever happened to respect for the dead, RIP Paul Walker x
Louise, it’s Hollywood. No morals, no respect. Money is thier idol.
Louise, if it was Joe Soap, his boss and colleagues would still have to discuss covering their job role immediately and long term.
In this instance, they have several crew who would have been expecting to start work on the Monday, possibly working on scenes with Paul, and they would have needed to discuss what they were going to do and inform the staff.
I’m gobsmacked at the stupidity of his fans doing stunts at the crash site as some kind of twisted tribute. Here’s an opportunity for them to learn something about the consequences of treating cars as toys, and it just whizzes over their heads.
Feckin sure it is, Ching, ching, as if any of them really care he’s dead, just another money making opportunity.
Initial evidence suggests he died because he drove like a maniac and endangered people’s lives, I hold no sympathy.
Drag racing at 40? Muppet.
Drag racing at any age? Muppet!
He was the passenger!
@Jamie. Walker was not the driver.
Still an extremely immature and silly thing to be involved in.
The question is do films like the one in question encourage young people to speed?
Not trying to be a killjoy.
Investigators have already said that there was no evidence of any drag racing or a second car present. But good for you, you called him a ‘muppet’ before his funeral has even taken place.
I’ll wait until its over to call him a Muppet so?
God, how much worse can they get after the 6th :/
R.I.P
Lampost? Hope your name was not made up for this article.
lamppost Twitter account has been suspended
Great, looking forward to it! I just hope it’s done right.
Find it hilarious that the amount of comments on this are about hollywood making money where the real tragedy is that 2 families have been left utterly devastated by this accident, children have being left without fathers, mothers & fathers have being left without sons, wives/partners have being left without their significant other. So before people comment about the hollywood money making machine think about the above facts.
Anybody else not able to sleep because of the excitement of awaiting Dan’s response???
He’ll probably get a posthumous Oscar for Best Actor.
These really are stupid films!
They promote young people to drive like tools & invariably cause deaths!
How can anyone take these films seriously? – Driving fast is just Stupid!- it is Ironic that the main star died this way, what a waste of life!
I think there is a lot of small penis syndrome out there where cars are concerned!
I just hope the crash wasn’t staged to promote the movie, I think that would be in very bad taste and has nobody seen the obvious link between this crash and the helicopter crash in Scotland?
No, please feel free to explain.
No just you and ypur four fellow tin foil hat wearers
Jim correct trolling?
No I havent seen the obvious linking of walkers crash and the helicopter crash in Scotland please explain
Jim corr
I intentionally made some ridiculous statements to highlight the stupidity of the typical journal reader, anybody who genuinely replied to my comment is an awful fool
Can’t wait! Never seen any of the others but hey! The money spinner must go on!
I heard they’re just getting a cardboard cutout to replace him, since it has the same charisma level and facial expression range.
Worst movies ever. Made obviously gor the teen market. But god are they awful.
Still least he knew nothing about it. Give it time a picture of his burning body will show up
The show must go on!
Good for them. It’s just so fortunate that this series of films is so devoid of any sort of structure that the death of a central character wont affect the plot in anyway.
Films should be called the Feckless and Fukwitted.
Actually do wonder how many kids have killed themselve by trying somthing from one of those films in real life driving?? What look like simple manouvers like a Drift can go very quickly out of control if you dont know what you are doing. Drive up the M7 around Nenagh,whole highway on the straight is full of Donuts.One nicely smashed into a crash barrier where someone didnt realise the closeness of the barrier.
have your say