14 DAY TRIAL // Universal Studios has plans to start filming again on the latest installment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise this April, according to insiders at the studio. The production had been halted since November when Paul Walker died in a car crash in order to decide if and how the film would continue.
The Hollywood Reporter has spoken with the insiders from Universal who give April as the sure date work will recommence on the action film project. And by the looks of things, they're eager to get things rolling again in a hurry, as the date of April 1 has already been given as the restart of production.
With the film supposed to hit theaters in April 2015, the producers are now scrambling to complete the filming and wrap up the project as soon as possible. This gives director James Wan a little over a year to get the job done.
According to the same insider sources, the movie was already quite far along in the filming process, with the remainder of the process taking an estimated six to eight additional weeks of shooting. This means that the cast and crew will be called back to Atlanta, where filming was supposed to resume after Thanksgiving but never happened, due to Walker's death.
At the end of November last year, Paul Walker got into a car with friend and business partner Roger Rodas and went for a quick spin in Valencia, California. Based on results from the investigation, it is believed that the Porsche Carrera they were in at the time spun out of control due to excessive speed and crashed into a lamp post.
Both Rodas who was behind the wheel and Walker were killed almost immediately after the impact, as the autopsy revealed, sustaining impact injuries as well as thermal injuries when the car burst into flames.
After the news of his death became public, the studio announced that it was putting a stop to the project indefinitely. Later, they issued a statement in which they said that filming was going to resume in 2014.
It's still not clear if Walker's character in the film, Brian O'Connor, is going to be killed off or retired. The latter theory was considered by many a more sensible option that would allow Walker to live on in the memory of the fans.
There were other rumors that spoke of completing the movie using Paul Walker's brother to play his role. The process was going to involve Paul's younger brother, who is a stunt man, and has roughly the same body measurements as the late actor. The plan was to put Paul's face on his brother's body using CGI.
So far, Universal has declined to comment on the issue.