With the tragic and untimely death of actor Paul Walker, many of us wondered the future of Fast & Furious 7, or even the franchise as a whole. I reported a few days ago that rewrites had began on the script, and that Paul Walker was going to see an honorable send-off. Fast & Furious 7 still needed some key scenes from Paul Walker’s character, and it looks like they have approached Walker’s brother, Cody, to fill for some of those scenes.
Producers had a string of meetings right after Paul’s death. They soon realized they needed someone who looked like Paul to finish the movie and that’s when they approached his nearly identical brother, Cody. They can shoot Cody from behind and at distance and if it’s a shot they need Paul’s face in close up they can CGI it later on. If Cody agrees it’s because he wants to honor his brother’s memory. There are many details that still need to be worked out, but right now the family and cast and crew are all still grieving.
This reminds of Brandon Lee’s death on the set of the movie The Crow. The filmmakers still had scenes to shoot after Lee’s death on the set, so they used someone that look similar to him and shot mostly from behind. Any shots that would show the character’s face, they simply put a CG face of Lee on top of the actor’s face, and no one could really tell the difference. This would be the case here as well, as they would shoot using angles that wouldn’t show Walker’s character’s face, and if they do, they will CG Paul’s face on top of Cody’s. I know a lot of you might think this is just dumb and they should’t do this whatsoever, but as long as the cast and family are behind it, I say do it.
Cody Walker has actually worked as a stuntman in movies before, so he would be able hold his own in some of the more intense scenes that need to be shot. If they happen to have to use a CG Paul Walker face, it might be a little creepy, but we know it can be done, since they made Jeff Bridges look like the 80s Jeff Bridges in TRON: Legacy.
Let me know what you guys think of this idea. You think it’s in poor taste? Or do you think they should go for it?
Source: Movieweb