As a general rule, Vin Diesel’s Facebook page is an excellent source of the kind of high-quality content your body craves. But this weekend, the Vinster happened to break us off with a crucial bit of F&F information. Herewith his missive, accompanied by a photo of his friend Paul Walker:
“The last scene we filmed together …
There was a unique sense of completion, of pride we shared … in the film we were now completing … the magic captured … and, in just how far we’ve come…
Fast and Furious 7 will be released …
April 10th 2015!
P.s. He’d want you to know first …”
The movie’s original release date was July 18, 2014, but as soon as production was halted, it was clear that was never going to happen. Word was that Universal execs, director (and F&F franchise newbie) James Wan, and screenwriter Chris Morgan have been powwowing like crazy, trying to figure out a tenable way forward that would salvage footage already shot. Apparently, they’ve hatched a solution, and it’s one that has them confident enough that they’re already throwing out release dates. Not that anyone’s going to give us any word on what the hell that solution might be. As for the slim chance that the entire movie would have been reconfigured, with Brian O’Conner written out altogether, THR scraps that: “An informed source confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Walker will appear in Fast & Furious 7, but further details were not immediately available.”
Meanwhile, as MTV points out, that makes summer 2015 one hell of a blockbuster season: “In the weeks following the Fast sequel’s release, theatergoers will have films like The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Terminator 5, Jurassic World, Batman vs. Superman and many more to choose from. Further, the seventh Star Wars film hits theaters later that year, around the holiday season.”
Mostly, Vin Diesel’s Facebook page has confirmed what we were already assuming: Fast & Furious 7 would not be stopped, and would be with us sooner rather than later. The big question, however, still remains: Exactly how will Walker’s death be sensibly and respectfully handled onscreen?