Paul Walker's Brothers to help in production for Fast and Furious 7

As many of you know, the death of actor Paul Walker has greatly affected the production of Fast & Furious 7. It is both Paul Walker and Vin Diesel's characters that both share the spotlight as the ones that embody this movie series. The loss of Paul Walker meant that there would be major changes to be made. There were various theories as to how the production would handle Walker's loss; will they kill off the character? Will they use computer graphics to edit his remaining scenes? The filming that halted last November has recently resumed. The solution lies on Paul Walker's siblings, Caleb and Cody Walker, who will both step in for the role (on the remaining unshot scenes). Fast & Furious 7 is scheduled for an April 2015 release. [hit the jump to continue]

While the announcement doesn’t specify how Walker’s brothers will be assisting the production, it would make sense to assume that they’ll be working as body doubles and handling wide shots where they’ll resemble Paul at a distance.  While the production could have just hired anyone who matched Walker’s height and build, perhaps this is a more respectful route, and one that will probably result in a better film since there’s a personal connection as opposed to a stranger stepping in.

Here is the full statement from Vin Diesel's facebook page:
The FAST & FURIOUS saga is about family. The characters are connected by the bond of family, and it is how all of us who have worked together for more than thirteen years feel about each other. It certainly defines how we feel about our fans.

Our family experienced an unthinkable shock in November. We had to take time to grieve Paul, the brother we love and lost, and to figure out if we should move on with our film.

We came together and all felt the only choice was to continue. We believe our fans want that, and we believe Paul would want that too. Paul had already shot his dramatic scenes and most of his action for FAST & FURIOUS 7, and it’s among the strongest work of his career.

We have resumed shooting and now welcome Paul’s brothers, Caleb and Cody, into our FAST family. Caleb and Cody are helping us complete some remaining action for their brother and fill in small gaps left in production. Having them on set has made us all feel that Paul is with us too.

We are just under a year away from the release of FAST & FURIOUS 7, and this film is the most important we’ve ever done together. It will allow the character of Brian O’Conner to live on and let us celebrate Paul in his most defining role.

We wanted to take a moment to speak to our fans directly and thank you for the love and support you always show us as we resume our work.