“Fast and Furious 7” will resume shooting in Abu Dhabi in April after halting production in December last year following the death of Paul Walker.
The Abu Dhabi Film Commission and Universal Pictures in a statement have announced that director James Wan and actor/producer Vin Diesel, as well as stars Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, will join the crew in Abu Dhabi to continue production.
Abu Dhabi production hub twofour54 will serve as the UAE producer of the film which will use a local crew, at least in part, and benefit from Abu Dhabi’s 30 percent rebate on qualifying local spend as a production incentive.
Shooting on the seventh installment of the highly lucrative action-thriller franchise was underway in Abu Dhabi in November 2013, but was halted after Walker, 40, who plays Brian O’Conner in the pic, died Nov. 30 in the crash of a Porsche GT in Santa Clarita, Calif. along with the car’s driver, Roger Rodas.
The death of Walker left Universal in a dilemma about what to do with the newest “Fast” installment, which had originally been planned for release on July 11 2014. The script has now been radically rewritten, though it has not been revealed whether Walker’s character will be “retired” or killed off, or how this highly sensitive matter will be handled. The film is now scheduled for release on April 10 2015.
