[Trailer] Furious 7
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The next (and seemingly final) entry in the Fast & Furious franchise has officially been renamed Furious 7 with the release of the film's first trailer. Since Fast Five, the Fast & Furious franchise has almost singlehandedly held up the Hollywood blockbuster action genre, elevating its heights over every successive film and making Fast & Furious 6 the highest-grossing film in the franchise. However, with lead actor Paul Walker's untimely death last year, production on Furious 7 was stalled for awhile, and the prospect of the film's release was at risk. But much like Vin Diesel's character Dom loves to re-iterate, the cast and crew is "family," and the film pushed on.
Which brings us to this past weekend when the first trailer for Furious 7 was released. As we've come to expect from the franchise, the trailer is full of high-energetic set pieces, including an opening clip of the crew car parachuting out of an aircraft to rob a truck. Also playing a pivotal role in the 2-minute-long trailer is Jason Statham's debut in the film. As if the trailer wasn't already lacking in sheer badassness, there's even a small scene of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson wielding a gatling gun. Furious 7 is gonna be awesome.
Theaters will get a little more Furious (7) in April 2015.
Fast & Furious 7 Resuming Production in April
January came and went, and the rumor of Fast & Furious 7 re-entering production last month proved to go unfounded. However, with a new release date set for April 10, 2015 and a script that will honor both Paul Walker and his Brian O'Conner character, the film is ready to resume production in April. It's being reported that Brian O'Conner will be written off and not killed off, and director James Wan and screenwriter Chris Morgan have altered existing footage to fit the script's new direction.
The decision is vastly superior to the rumored options of having Walker's younger brother to represent him as a body double or by using CGI to implant his face on another actor's head. With only several weeks of shooting left, Wan and his team have more than a year of post-production to create a cohesive film that will befit not only Walker's legacy, but the Fast & Furious franchise as a whole.
[via /Film]
Fast & Furious 7 production could resume in January
This is just a rumor, but it appears that Fast & Furious 7 writer Chris Morgan is currently revising the script to not only make use of the scenes shot with actor Paul Walker, but to also do it in a way that gives him a proper and appropriate send-off. Universal halted production on the film last week while they re-grouped to figure out how to handle the future of the franchise. If Morgan's revised script is suitable enough, it appears that production could resume next month. Of course, the delay means it'll be far-fetched for the film to meet its original release date next July.
There's still a chance that Universal could scrap everything up to this point and start fresh. Would it be the best decision to make in light of Walker's passing? In my opinion, probably not. The purported Morgan revision sounds like the best option right now, and like I mentioned last week, the studio wants to do more right by Walker's legacy than by the amount of money they may or may not lose if they start from scratch.
In spite of last month's tragedy, I still have high hopes for the franchise. Since Fast Five, the series took a turn away from its cheesy beginnings to a legitimate action blockbuster, complete with a growing cast and crew that possesses the talent to make it successful. The loss of Walker means losing one of the franchise's core actors, but with newcomers Jason Statham and Tony Jaa set to make their debuts, the Fast and the Furious future is still pretty bright.
[via /Film]
Fast & Furious 7 officially scrapped... for now
Paul Walker's untimely death will be talked about for some time to come, especially considering Fast & Furious 6's release on Blu-ray and DVD next week (with some proceeds going to Walker's charity, Reach Out Worldwide). On Sunday, it was rumored that Fast & Furious 7 director James Wan met with Universal execs to discuss what to do with the film in light of the star's death. The Wrap has reported that the studio was insured for situations like this, so Universal has multiple options they can explore in regards to the future of the franchise.
Universal just released an official statement on the production of Fast & Furious 7:
Right now, all of us at Universal are dedicated to providing support to Paul's immediate family and our extended Fast & Furious family of cast, crew and filmmakers. At this time we feel it is our responsibility to shut down production on Fast & Furious 7 for a period of time so we can assess all options available to move forward with the franchise. We are committed to keeping Fast & Furious fans informed, and we will provide further information to them when we have it. Until then, we know they join us in mourning the passing of our dear friend Paul Walker.
One option was to simply scrap the film and start from scratch. There are still conflicting reports over how much of Walker's scenes were shot, but there's an idea to simply start clean with a new script without Walker. However, the studio understands that Walker is a central part to the franchise, and a film without him appearing in any way wouldn't be viable. Another option involved editing his likeness on another actor's face via CG, but that seems hokey and very unlikely, especially now that production has been officially halted.
It's great to see that Universal and the film's filmmakers are reacting with their hearts instead of their wallets. For such a cherished franchise as Fast & Furious, this is the best move for everybody involved from the actors to the fans.
[via The Wrap, via The Playlist]
R.I.P. Paul Walker (9/12/1973 - 11/30/2013)
Over the weekend, Fast & Furious star Paul Walker died in a car crash in Los Angeles. The actor, aged 40, was shooting the highly anticipated Fast & Furious 7 in recent months, although the production was on a holiday break at the time of the accident. Many of his co-stars turned to social media to express their condolences to his family and their love and praise for him and his work.
As one of the core actors of the Fast & Furious franchise alongside Vin Diesel, Walker's career was defined by Fast & Furious as it, in turn, defined Fast & Furious, as well. Currently, production on the James Wan-directed Fast & Furious 7 is postponed indefinitely until Universal and Wan can think up a proper way to continue the franchise while still paying proper respect to Walker's Brian O'Conner character.
I've sung the praises of this summer's Fast & Furious 6 in my first film review for Ruby Hornet, and a part of what made the film so entertaining was the central theme of family and friendship, even if it was drilled to near exaggeration throughout the film. With one of its primary actors gone, it will be difficult to carry the tone in light of the weekend's tragedy.
[via Yahoo! Movies, via Collider]
[Video] Vin Diesel and Tony Jaa's behind the scenes training for Fast & Furious 7
When Tony Jaa (Ong-Bak) was cast for Fast & Furious 7, I was excited for what his role would mean for the film. With the core F&F cast returning alongside newcomer Jason Statham, my adoration for the already entertaining action blockbuster was already high as is. But with Jaa's dedication to martial arts, it meant the next sequel would become more technical in its close-quarters combat.
In a new behind the scenes video released this week, Fast and Furious staple Vin Diesel teamed up with Jaa for a little combat training. The video has questionable production quality, but the main attraction is watching Diesel and Jaa train. One of the highlights includes Jaa bicycle kicking a training pad held approximately 10 feet in the air.
Fast & Furious 7 can't come fast enough.
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James Wan's direction for Fast & Furious 7 rooted in a revenge thriller genre
As James Wan begins to plan his vision for the next Fast & Furious film, he shared a bit of where he sees the seventh entry going. For whose who haven't seen Fast & Furious 6 yet (and really, why haven't you?), its ending sets up as a direct segue into the next film. Wan, known mostly as a horror film director, will be thrust into the franchise at the peak of its popularity following ex-director Justin Lin's successful upheaval of the action franchise.
“Then there's the drive of Number Seven, which was set up at the end of Number Six, which is a classic revenge story. I'm a big [genre] fan, so that's how I'm approaching it: I'm looking at it like a gritty, '70s revenge thriller, but one that still fits into the 'Fast and Furious' series."
A finely-tuned revenge thriller would be amazing to see. Again, alluding to F&F6's ending, the revenge angle would help frame the film, as well as allow Wan to leave his own mark on the franchise. However, in saying that, a few changes to the established formula will have to be made. Perhaps the focus could move away from Dom and the gang and fully get behind the antagonist? However Wan crafts the film, I have confidence in the prospect of the film, the least of which relating to the actors attached.
[via The Playlist]