Paul Walker's Fast and Furious character Brian O'Conner will appear in the next film with existing footage before retiring.
Following the tragic passing of actor Paul Walker last November, Universal Pictures has been struggling to find a path forward for Fast & Furious 7, which shut down production on December 4. Over the holidays, the studio quietly moved the film’s release date to April 10, 2015 with the reminder that “Vin Diesel and Paul Walker lead the returning cast.”
Today, Universal has finally clarified its path forward in hopes of satisfying fans who want to see Walker’s final performance. As revealed in The Hollywood Reporter, the plan is to use existing footage already shot with Walker for Fast & Furious 7, before retiring the character, as opposed to uncomfortably killing his onscreen alter-ego, Brian O’Conner.
Prior to his death, Walker participated with director James Wan and the rest of the cast and crew in completing about half of the scenes for Fast & Furious 7, which purportedly was originally to be heavily focused on Brian O’Conner’s character. Over the last month, Wan and writers Chris Morgan, and Jeffrey Kirschenbaum have poured over footage in an attempt to find a way to use some of his scenes.
The new plan is to now write and film additional scenes that will allow Brian O’Conner to retire from his life of high-speed crime, but that will also feature him to some degree in the existing story.
Walker’s Brian O’Conner, who has appeared in five of the last six Fast and the Furious films, will return one last time in April 2015.