For several months now, we’ve known that Paul Walker would remain in Fast & Furious 7, despite his tragic death. Universal announced that they would retire the character but that he would still show up via body doubles and CGI. Today, we’re hearing that the actor’s brothers, Caleb and Cody, will be helping out with the production.
If you recall, shortly after Walker’s death, both of his brothers were said to have been approached by the studio. At the time though, we hadn’t received any official confirmation. Now, Universal has made an announcement on the film’s Facebook page, explaining what exactly is going on.
Check it out below:
The FAST & FURIOUS saga is about family. The characters are connected by the bond of family, and it is how all of us who have worked together for more than thirteen years feel about each other. It certainly defines how we feel about our fans.
Our family experienced an unthinkable shock in November. We had to take time to grieve Paul, the brother we love and lost, and to figure out if we should move on with our film.
We came together and all felt the only choice was to continue. We believe our fans want that, and we believe Paul would want that too. Paul had already shot his dramatic scenes and most of his action for FAST & FURIOUS 7, and it’s among the strongest work of his career.
We have resumed shooting and now welcome Paul’s brothers, Caleb and Cody, into our FAST family. Caleb and Cody are helping us complete some remaining action for their brother and fill in small gaps left in production. Having them on set has made us all feel that Paul is with us too.
We are just under a year away from the release of FAST & FURIOUS 7, and this film is the most important we’ve ever done together. It will allow the character of Brian O’Conner to live on and let us celebrate Paul in his most defining role.
We wanted to take a moment to speak to our fans directly and thank you for the love and support you always show us as we resume our work.
Personally, I think that this is the right decision to make, and I think that most of the fans feel that way, too. Universal had to keep Walker in the film, there was no way that they could just cut him out. And considering that most of his scenes had already been shot, it made sense to just fill in the gaps with body doubles. It was the Fast & Furious franchise that launched the actor into stardom in the first place, so to remove him from his final outing with the series wouldn’t have been right.
Fast & Furious 7 rides into theatres on April 10th, 2015 with James Wan at the helm. Alongside Walker will be Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and Kurt Russell.