Despite the lack of competition on its previous release date, Universal announced today that it would be moving the release date for Fast & Furious 7 up one week from April 10th of next year to Easter weekend. On paper, the main reason for the move would appear to be so that the tentpole has one more week to dominate in theaters before another likely heavyweight – Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 – enters the box office arena.
Fast & Furious 7 will continue the blockbuster series, again focusing on ex-con Dom Torretto (Vin Diesel) and his team. This time around, when Ian Shaw (franchise newbie Jason Statham) comes looking for revenge after the death of his maniacal brother Owen (Luke Evans) in Fast & Furious 6, the team is forced to defend itself. And after Han (Sung Kang) is killed by Ian in Tokyo, the team goes on the warpath. Dwayne “The R0ck” Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Lucas Black and Tyrese Gibson all reprise their roles from previous installments, while new recruits include Ronda Rousey, Tony Jaa, Kurt Russell, Djimon Hounsou and Nathalie Emmanuel.
Star Paul Walker, who died in a car crash last year, was mid-way through shooting his scenes at the time of his death, and after a script re-write to accomodate the tragedy, face replacement effects and the involvement of Walker’s two brothers Cody and Caleb were used to complete the film. Now that cameras have finished rolling, it’s time to see whether Insidious director James Wan has the stuff of an action helmer – and more importantly, whether the Fast & Furious franchise has succeeded in giving Walker’s character Brian O’Conner a worthy send-off.
Fast & Furious 7 will now open on April 3rd, 2015. Has Walker’s death shattered the illusion of the fast-living, faster-driving lifestyle for you so much as to turn you off this sequel, or will you be queuing up to see the blockbuster? Sound off below!