Due to the untimely death of star Paul Walker, James Wan's Fast & Furious 7 has had a long road through production. While the finished film was initially supposed to come out this summer, Walker's passing in November of last year forced the production to be delayed while the script could be rewritten. As a result, the blockbuster sequel is only starting to wind down its production now, as seen in the image above - taken from Dwayne Johnson's final day on set.
The image was posted on Johnson's self-run Instagram account, and while you can't read the caption that went with it because the embed is terrible, you can read the message in its entirety below:
My last day of FAST & FURIOUS.. I'm truly touched by the farewell love my film crew has shown me. Its been an honor to work with such an incredibly hard working and brilliant crew. (a crew who's had to practice great restraint daily on this production;). They may not be household names, but they'll ALWAYS be stars in my book. With great love and respect to all of you... see ya down the yellow brick road. Another place. Another time.#ThankUForAllYourWork ~ Rock
You'll notice that there are no other Fast & Furious stars in the shot,the photo instead existing simply to celebrate the hard work of the crew that helps make the franchise actually work. Yet another example of Dwayne Johnson being a pretty cool dude.
Based on a script written by Chris Morgan, who has penned every film in the franchise since The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, the seventh installment of the series finds Dominic Toretto and his crew back in Los Angeles, but being hunted by Owen Shaw's brother, Ian (played by Jason Statham), who is hungry for revenge. James Wan, best known for making horror movies like Saw and The Conjuring, is taking the helm of the sequel, replacing Justin Lin (who had been around just as long as Morgan). In addition to Johnson, Walker and Statham, Fast & Furious 7 will also star Vin Diesel, Ronda Rousey, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Djimon Hounsou, Kurt Russell, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson, Tony Jaa, and Ludacris.
While production on the next Fast & Furious movie is still looking to pass the finish line in the shooting stage, before you know it the first trailer will be out. Following the delay, Universal Pictures penciled the film in to come out on April 10, 2015, where it currently sits with no competition. This in mind, we should get our first look at the movie some time this fall. Perhaps it will be attached to the studio's Dracula Untold, starring Fast & Furious 6's Luke Evans, which will be coming out in October.
