Faced with the task of giving audiences all the thrill rides and dangerous car crashes they crave, without evoking the ones they’re trying so desperately to forget, the producers of Fast & Furious 7 have agreed on at least one way to move forward. The Hollywood Reporter says that—though production on Fast 7 is still on hold, as the script is rewritten to address the death of Paul Walker—the filmmakers are now proceeding with a plan to “retire” Walker’s character, Brian O’Conner, in the sequel that’s set for release on April 10, 2015.
There aren’t any specific details beyond that, but it is noteworthy that director James Wan and his team have decided to pursue the “retirement” angle as their way of gracefully exiting Walker from the series, while still incorporating some of the footage he’d shot before his death in November. This, as opposed to just killing his character off. While that might have been the most efficient solution, story-wise, it’s obviously not something that would have sat well with Fast & Furious fans, whose love of movies about cold and twisted machinery belie their very human hearts. It remains to be seen how one “retires” from the world of elaborate automotive heists, but hopefully it involves driving nothing faster or more furious than a golf cart.