Paul Walker's FAST & FURIOUS Character to Be 'Retired'?

In the wake of the shocking death of FAST & FURIOUS star Paul Walker, Universal Pictures is considering 'retiring' his character from the film franchise, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

According to the report, the studio believes that fans of the franchise would prefer to see Walker's character, Brian O'Conner, 'retired', through use of existing footage, rather than have him killed in the upcoming 7th installment. Walker died about halfway through production of the film.

In the weeks following the tragic death, director James Wan, writer Chris Morgan and Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, Universal's lead executive on the films, looked over endless footage that had been shot. They came up with a plan to "tweak" the current script in order to have Walker's character remain a part of the storyline but would be written out in order that the successful franchise could continue on without him.

As BWW reported earlier today, the Los Angeles County Coroner's report released today revealed that the Porsche Carrera GT which Walker was driving in at the time of his fatal accident was exceeding speeds of more than 100 MPH. The report also confirms that no drugs or alcohol were present in Walker's system at the time of his death. The official cause of death is listed as trauma and thermal injuries.

Universal recently announced that production on the film would be haulted until April 10, 2015. The studio has not commented on the above report.

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