Paul Walker in 'Fast and Furious 7': What happens now?
Along with tides of joy of givings of thanks, this holiday weekend brought with it . The 40-year-old actor was in a fatal car crash during a charity event in Santa Clarita, California 鈥� and along with an outpouring of shock, horror, and grief from fans all across the world, the big question looming on everyone鈥檚 mind was, 鈥淗ow is this going to affect听听?鈥�
The seventh installment of the franchise has been in production since earlier this fall, with director James Wan (The Conjuring) taking over the helm from franchise staple, Justin Lin. Part 7 has been touted as a 鈥溾��70s-style revenge thriller鈥� story featuring Jason Statham as the vengeance-seeking brother of听听villain, Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) 鈥� meaning that some hard hits are coming to the Dom Terreto (Vin Diesel) and his F&F听familia.
Of course, that was before those hard hits became all too real with the death of Walker; in an update from THR, we now learn that Universal has held a meeting determining the fate of听Fast & Furious 7.听The official company line is that as of now, the film will see a delay in production in order to allow for a proper, respectful, grieving period. That delay could subsequently cause the film鈥檚 July 2014 release date to be bumped, but F&F7 will NOT be abandoned.
However, even though the film is still on, there is a question of logistics; namely, HOW to wrap the film in a way that makes sense in the narrative of the film, while remaining respectful to Walker and his legacy.
鈥nd that is quite a tough nut to crack. On the surface, it would seem an easy fix: rewrite the revenge story so that Walker鈥檚 character, Brian O鈥機onnor, meets a noble end somewhere in Ian Shaw鈥檚 (Statham) campaign of vengeance. However, the suddenness of Walker鈥檚 death (and his position as a franchise lead) means his character鈥檚 death was likely NOT in the cards; trying to make it happen onscreen, the easiest fix would be to use some kind of stunt racing sequence that doesn鈥檛 require actual shots of the actor鈥檚 face 鈥� except that any such fix would also be uncomfortably close to depicting the way in which Walker actually died. Audiences are likely not going to be supportive of that 鈥� let alone Walker鈥檚 family, and his friends amongst the听F&F听cast and crew.
That leaves us with the possible work-around of an off-screen demise for Brian O鈥機onnor, which 鈥� while more tasteful and practical 鈥� will seem like an unceremonious end for such an important character in a mega-popular franchise. But then, none of this is easy (tragedy tends to be 鈥� well, tragic), and if the film is committed to reaching the finish line, a scenario like the one posited above is probably the best option.
But who knows: Maybe things don鈥檛 have to be so dark. Maybe Brian and Mia (Jordana Brewster) and their child are all sent off into the sunset to live free and happy while Dom and the rest of the crew continue to deal with threats at their car doors. Maybe the land of movie fantasy offers fans something better than the harsh reality of life did. Maybe we all could use something a little more uplifting as we say goodbye to an actor whose character was an icon for a generation of moviegoers. One can only hope鈥�
Looking beyond the now, the second biggest question on听my听mind is whether Vin Diesel and Co. are still committed to making听Fast Furious听installments beyond part 7 (). Will it still be fun for the cast and crew (and the fans) to take this ride, now short one passenger? I think we could all understand if the answer to that question was 鈥渘o.鈥�
Kofi Outlaw blogs at .
