Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson

Celebrity News

‘Fast & Furious’ forging ahead after Walker’s death

The “ghost” of Paul Walker is going to save Universal’s “Fast & Furious” tentpole, sources tell me.

The handsome actor died Nov. 30 in a fiery Porsche crash after filming about half of “Fast & Furious 7” with co-stars Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Jason Statham, Nathalie Emmanuel and Dwayne Johnson.

But Universal, which already invested $150 million in the picture, is forging ahead to finish the movie and release it in April 2015.

“They have so much footage of Walker from the previous ‘Fast & Furious’ movies and outtakes [that can be edited in], plus they can use CGI,” an insider said.

The producers were reported last month to be hiring Paul’s younger, look-alike brother, Cody Walker, 25, who has worked as a stuntman. But sources said Cody doesn’t look enough like his brother, who was 40, or act enough like him, to impersonate Paul.

Had Universal opted not to complete the movie and instead filed an insurance claim with Fireman’s Fund, that company could have released the film in any way it saw fit and potentially damaged the franchise. A Universal spokesperson had no comment on the new developments.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the new plot line is that the late actor’s character, Brian O’Conner, will retire.

Vin Diesel, who launched the franchise with Walker in 2001, has a big say in how the movie will be re-written by Chris Morgan. The six movies have grossed $2.6 billion in ticket sales.