james wan

Fast And Furious 7 wrapped up its final shot this week, following a long and arduous, and presumably, an often emotionally challenging process for the cast and crew following the tragic loss of one of its lead actors, Paul Walker, late last year.

Aside from the commercial success of the franchise as a whole, the Fast And Furious saga has also become personal favorite for millions of movie goers who fell in love with the first film over a decade ago under director Rob Cohen. I know it affected me late last year, particularly having absolutely enjoyed the previous films up to Fast And Furious 6, which had the entire room cheering with every heartpounding action sequence and comedic moment it offered. And the teaser footage that was offered on the DVD last year drew even more excitement as filming continued for the next installment.

As tough as I can imagine it was for the production to pull through, it finally has. It is worth point out that the production had to pull a lot of costly resources together to make this film happen, even posthumously with the film to include a digital rendering of Paul‘s face and likeness between certain scenes.

As for how they plan to take on the second and third film of the third Fast And Furious trilogy, those details are a mystery, and we can only hope that those involved will return to the set feeling better, fresher, and whole again. And with what it took to make Fast And Furious 7 possible, I know the fans are as thankful as I am – maybe even more so, and I, for one, look forward to being there on opening day.

On that note, the production took to its official Facebook page to lend its fans a heartfelt message, as follows.

We made it. 

Today we completed the last shot in the production of FAST & FURIOUS 7. 

We wanted to take this moment to express how thankful we are for your support. We felt the love and strength from our fans throughout this journey, and it’s because of you that we got here. 

There was a time when we didn’t know how we could go on, or even if we should. But we listened to you, and you inspired us not only to keep going but to try and make the best FAST & FURIOUS movie yet. 

Our FAST family has been together for almost fifteen years now and has grown a lot in that time. From the start, Vin has been our leader who feels what’s right for FAST in his gut and in his heart. When we had to stop production last year, Vin gathered us back together and moved us forward when we needed it most. He led us to this day. 

Some of us have been here from the very beginning. Vin, Michelle, Jordana and our producer Neal all go back to that first little movie we shot on the streets of LA. We came back to LA in FAST 7, and it was an especially emotional homecoming for those who’ve grown up with each other since that first shoot. 

There are those we count as brothers who we gathered along the way and are with us again: Dwayne, Tyrese, Luda, Lucas and our writer, Chris. We’ve got some new additions this time in Jason, Kurt, Djimon, Nathalie and our director, James. Caleb and Cody joined us to honor their brother and help complete his work. 

Our family is big and strong but it won’t ever quite be whole again without Paul. 

All of us — those who’ve been here from the start and those whose first FAST film is 7 — wanted to create a special film for him and for you. We believe we have. 

Thank you for being there for us. You are the biggest part of our family, and we couldn’t have gotten here without you. 

The countdown to April 3 begins. 

With love, 

Your FAST & FURIOUS Family

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