Production on Fast & Furious 7 has been put on hold after the death of its star, Paul Walker, on Saturday.
Filming had been scheduled to resume in Atlanta this week but has so far been cancelled and Universal Pictures has declined to say when it will restart.
Walker, 40, died when a Porsche being driven by a friend of his, who also died, crashed near Los Angeles. The film company will donate proceeds from the upcoming DVD release of Fast & Furious 6 to Walker’s charity. Walker founded Reach Out Worldwide in 2010 to give first-response aid to victims of natural disasters and had been hosting a fundraiser for the charity on Saturday afternoon when he went for a drive with fellow car enthusiast Roger Rodas.The lucrative Fast & Furious franchise became one of Hollywood’s biggest hits thanks to its reliable formula of high-speed chases, underground gangs and thrilling stunts and has starred Walker in all but one instalment. Fast & Furious 6 became the highest-grossing film in the series to date, earning more than $788 million (£482m) worldwide when it was released in May. Its follow-up is scheduled for release in July 2014, and although Universal Pictures is expected to go forward with the film, it has not yet announced how it will handle Walker’s unfinished performance. A large portion of the car-racing movie has been shot since since filming began in September, but it is currently incomplete. Walker starred in two further films that have yet to be released. Hurricane Katrina drama Hours, which the actor also produced, is being released in the US later this month. Brick Mansions, a remake of the French action film District B13, is due for release early next year. On Monday night, a private memorial for survivors and the cast and
crew of the Fast & Furious films was held inside a white tent which had been put up around the crash site in Valencia, north of Los Angeles. Afterwards Walker’s co-star Vin Diesel emerged to thank fans for paying their respects to the actor. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office completed autopsies on the two bodies recovered from the crash on Tuesday, but has not yet released its report. Police investigators have been examining the cause of the crash. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has said witnesses described the car as “travelling alone at a high rate of speed” before it smashed into a light pole and tree, and then exploded in flames. Walker’s family has asked that donations be made to the late actor’s charity Reach Out Worldwide instead of flowers or gifts.
