[WARNING: This post contains SPOILERS for Furious 7]
–
Furious 7was supposed to come out in summer 2014, but when star Paul
Walker tragically passed awayin the middle of filming, director James
Wan and his team had to retool several aspects of the movie (delaying
its release date) – in order for it to be not just another thrilling
installment in the series, but also a fitting tribute to the actor.
Many would agree that Walker's farewell (in which his Brian O'Connor
and Dom Toretto share one last ride down an open highway) was handled
very well – and emotional to the point that even casual fans got swept
up in the moment.
There was, however, a version of Furious 7 that called for Walker to
continue to be a part of Dom's "family" for future installments down
the road. Now that the film has been released and is breaking box
office records, some may be wondering how everything would have played
out if Walker was still alive today. Wan has now revealed the original
ending, which would have hinted at how the franchise's universe could
expand in an eighth movie.
While speaking with Collider, Wan broke down the initial conclusion
and how Walker's death impacted their decision to cut it from the
script:
"The original ending of 'Furious 7′ was setting up, you know, the
bigger world of where the 'Fast and Furious' franchise could go into.
And that's obviously very smart of them to think so. But when the
tragedy happened, all of that became irrelevant. So it did not matter
anymore, all of that stuff. And to the studio's credit, they did not
push for that. They realized how important it was to make a movie that
finishes and that just outright is a tribute to Paul Walker. So I give
them a lot of credit for being bigger than that and going along with
this ending that is the right ending to go with."
It's becoming standard fare in Hollywood for tentpoles to tease
sequels in the final moments of the film audiences are currently
watching (see: Marvel Studios), and it sounds like that was the
initial plan here. While Wan doesn't come out and say what the final
scene would have been, it's easy to envision it being similar to the
mid-credits scene from Fast & Furious 6, which gave viewers their
first look at Jason Statham'sFurious 7 villain (and started the hype
train for that movie in the early going).
However, Wan is correct in saying that Walker's passing rendered all
that followup planning irrelevant. Fans are no doubt excited about
where Fast and Furious 8 might go, but the cloud of the Furious
7situation overshadowed the development of any sequels. If the movie
didn't end with a heartfelt tribute to its late lead, it may have been
construed as a disingenuous move that arguably undercuts the "family"
theme that's long defined the series. It's nice to see that all
parties were in full agreement that honoring Walker was a top
priority.
Even though fans may look at the upcoming sequels and wonder how
Walker (who starred in all but one of the seven films to date) would
have fit in to the proceedings, they can take solace in the fact that
Wan was able to craft a touching end to Brian O'Connor's story in a
manner that was sincere and natural. While Dom and his team are trying
to take down international criminals and going on heists, we'll know
Brian is out there somewhere watching over his own family and two kids
– as he should be. Given the circumstances, it's hard to think of a
more perfect finale than that.
Furious 7 is now playing in theaters.
Source: Collider
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