Paul Walker's "Tour De Force" Movie 'Hours' Set For Release Next Week
Paul Walker died in sudden and tragic circumstances this week, prompting an outpouring of grief from across Hollywood for the loss of a beloved star and devoted father. In the face of such a tragedy, there was doubt placed on whether the Fast & Furious franchise would be able to go on without one of its main stars, however Sony Pictures have since confirmed that filming will continue and the seventh instalment of the series will be completed.
As stated by The Hollywood Reporter, production on F&F7 has been halted and will be delayed whilst the cast and crew come to terms with the loss of their friend and co-star. Still, there are no plans to abandon the project and whilst the film will be delayed beyond its planned July 2014 release, those speaking with THR said that Walker had already filmed most of his scenes and filming would be able to go on regardless of his death.
The cast were due to travel to Abu Dhabi in January for an additional shoot, which will obviously be trivialised by Walker's death, but it seems that Sony are going to let filming continue in Atlanta and decided on what happens next closer to the date.
Shooting for the film was on hold over the Thanksgiving period, when Walker decided to return to California to front a charity fundraiser. He died after a limited-edition Porsche he was in crashed into a lamp post and tree, bursting into flames upon impact. The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Roger Rodas, was CEO of Walker's company Always Evolving. Both driver and passenger were pronounced dead at the scene.
Next page: Read more about Paul Walker's movie Hours - considered his best work.
Another of Walker's upcoming films, the Hurricane Katrina drama Hours, will also go ahead in spite of Walker's death, and will be released as planned on 13 December.
Described as a "labour of love" for Walker, Paul Presburger, the head of Pantelion, the production company backing the upcoming film, told THR, "It's Paul's tour de force. He's in every frame of the movie. Paul would have very much wanted us to move forward. He was incredibly proud of this project. We did a press junket two weeks ago, and I remember sitting with him and how excited he was for people to see this movie. He was looking for something to showcase his acting skills, which he so rarely had the chance to do. He hit it out of the park."
Walker's death was met with an outpouring of grief, with his Fast and Furious co-stars, including Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Ludacris and Tyreese Gibson, among those sending their prayers to Paul's and their best wishes to his family. Although the producers want to proceed with filming, the heartache felt across the cast may prove to be another hinderence in the filming of F&F7. We'll update you as news develops from the set.