MOVIES: The tragic death of Paul Walker leaves questions about the direction the Fast and the Furious franchise will take.
By Jonathan Whang, staff writer
Tragedy struck in Santa Clarita on November 30 when Paul Walker died in a car accident. An event for his charity Reach Out Worldwide was taking place that day. Walker and his friend were last seen driving in a Porsche. A nearby explosion was heard moments later, and Walker was found dead in a burning car wreck.
It wasn’t too long ago that Fast and the Furious Six came out. Walker played as undercover cop Brian O’Connor in the series, entering and eventually joining the fast-paced world of street racing. O’Connor befriended street pack leader Dominic Toretto in the first installment, and after that the duo became the dynamic of the franchise. Even over time, as Walker’s character was pushed to the side, O’Connor and Toretto’s friendship remained foundational to the movies.
In some projects, the death of an actor can be dealt with accordingly. When Heath Ledger died during the production of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, the fantastical, dream-world setting of the film allowed for the producers to adapt and continue the project, replacing Ledger with other actors under the guise that his character, Tony, was changing his appearance. However, the Fast and the Furious movies take place in a more realistic world, though perhaps not a completely believable one (watch the highway action sequence in the sixth movie and tell me that the car-propelled, mid-air save featuring an air-borne Toretto and a member of his pack is possible). Evidently, not enough of Walker’s role has been filmed for the seventh installment to continue as planned. In situations like this, an entire story change may have to come of order—the whole project as we know it could even end up collapsing.
These are trying times for everyone involved in the Fast and the Furious series, and only time will tell if the next installment will follow through. For the meantime, fans will have to wait.
A portion of the DVD sales of Fast and the Furious Six will go to Walker’s Reach Out Worldwide, which is currently assisting the Philippines in the wake of the typhoon that killed thousands. Acclaimed as a well-rounded guy by fellow actors, Paul Walker will be missed.
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