(Informations via Wikipedia)
Plot
After defeating Owen Shaw and his crew, Dominic Toretto (
Vin Diesel), Brian O'Conner (
Paul Walker) and the rest of the crew are able to return to the United States and live normal lives again as they had wanted. However, Owen's older brother, Deckard Shaw (
Jason Statham), is after Dom and his crew, seeking revenge for his brother's death and putting the entire crew in danger once more. After learning of Han's death, the crew sets out to find the man who killed one of their own, before he finds them first.
Cast
Production
Development
On April 4, 2013,
Justin Lin, the franchise's director since
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), announced that he would not return to direct a seventh film, as the studio wanted to produce the film on an accelerated schedule for release in summer 2014. This would have required Lin to begin pre-production on the sequel while performing post-production on
Fast & Furious 6, which he considered would affect the quality of the final product. Despite the usual two-to-three-year gap between the previous installments, Universal chose to pursue a sequel quicker due to having fewer reliable franchises than its competitor studios.
[26] However, subsequent interviews with Lin have suggested that the sixth installment was always intended to be the final entry directed by him.
[27] In April 2013,
James Wan, predominantly known for horror films, was announced as the sequel's director, with
Neal H. Moritz returning to produce and
Chris Morgan returning to write the script, his fifth in the series. On April 16, 2013,
Vin Diesel announced that the sequel would be released on July 11, 2014.
[28] In May 2013, Diesel said that the sequel would feature Los Angeles, Tokyo and the Middle East as locations.
[29][30]
Casting
Diesel and
Paul Walker were the first confirmed to return.
[31] Dwayne Johnson initially said that if Universal pursued the accelerated development of a seventh film with a summer start date, he would be unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts with filming on
Hercules.
[32] However, as production for the film commenced in September, he confirmed his return for the film, as
Hercules would complete production in time for him to film a significant part.
[33] In August 2013,
Kurt Russell was confirmed to be in talks for joining the film. Diesel confirmed his involvement in the film through a production photo on his
Facebook page in September 2013.
[34] In August 2013,
mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey was confirmed to be in negotiations to join the cast,
[35] and Thai martial arts actor
Tony Jaa was also confirmed to have joined the cast, making his Hollywood debut.
[14][36] In the same month, it was reported that
Denzel Washington had turned down a role in the film, and that Universal was looking for another big star to take the part which would play a larger role in an eighth film.
[37] It was also confirmed that
Lucas Black has signed on to reprise his role as Sean Boswell for
Furious 7 and two more installments.
[8][38]
Filming
Principal photography began in the beginning of September 2013 in
Atlanta,
Georgia, with a casting call issued.
[39][40] Abu Dhabi has also been confirmed
[41] as a filming location, as the production crew chose it over
Dubai and will benefit from the Emirate's 30% rebate scheme.
[42] Pikes Peak Highway in
Colorado was closed in September to film some driving sequences.
[43]
On November 30, 2013, while on a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, Walker, the actor who portrayed Brian O'Conner, died in a
single-vehicle accident.
[44][45] The next day, Universal announced that production would continue after a delay that would allow the film makers to rework the film.
[46] On December 4, 2013, Universal Pictures put production on hold indefinitely.
[47] Wan later confirmed that the film had not been cancelled.
[48][49][50] On December 22, 2013, Diesel posted on his Facebook page that the film would be released on April 10, 2015.
[51] On February 27, 2014,
The Hollywood Reporter reported that filming would resume on April 1, and that the cast and crew had headed to Atlanta to prepare for about eight more weeks of shooting.
[52] Principal photography ended on July 10, 2014.
[4]
Redevelopment of Walker's character
On January 6, 2014, it was reported that Walker's character would be retired instead of killed, and that new scenes would be developed to retire his character, allowing the franchise to continue.
[53] On March 21, 2014,
The Daily News reported that the studio had hired four actors with bodies very similar to Walker's physique and using his face and voice with the use of
CGI.
[54] On April 15, 2014, it was announced that Walker's brothers, Caleb and Cody, would be used as stand-ins.
[55]
Music
The
musical score was composed by
Brian Tyler, who scored the third, fourth, and fifth installments of the series.
[56] "There's an emotional component to
Fast & Furious 7 that is unique," said Tyler about his experience scoring. "I think people are really going to be amazed by it."
[57] A soundtrack album to the film was released by
Atlantic Records on March 17, 2015.
[58]
Songs featured in the film include:
Release
The film, which began principal photography in September 2013, was originally designed as a summer 2014 release. It was put on hold following the fatal car crash that claimed Paul Walker's life on November 30, 2013. The production resumed in April 2014.
In October 2014, Universal revealed that the film was officially titled
Furious 7,
[61] and that the debut trailer would be released during an interactive fan event over social media. In the days leading up to the event, seven-second, behind-the-scenes videos were released, titled "7 Seconds of 7".
[61]
On February 1, 2015, a new trailer featuring all-new footage debuted during
Super Bowl XLIX.
The film was originally scheduled for release on April 10, 2015, but it was announced that the film's release date had been brought forward a week to April 3, 2015. The official announcement in change of date was made in July 2014.
[62] Fast and Furious 7 premiered at the
SXSW Film Festival at 12:07 a.m. at Austin's
Paramount Theatre on March 16, 2015.
[63]
Reception
Box office
Early box office analysts are predicting that the film could open strongly in the United States and Canada in its opening weekend; if predicted takings of between $110–$115 million occur, that would make it the highest-opening for a film released in April (currently held by
Captain America: The Winter Soldier with $95 million) and the biggest among the
Fast & Furious franchise (currently held by
Fast & Furious 6 with $97.4 million).
[64][65]
Critical response
Furious 7 has received positive reviews from early critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 88%, based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10.
[66] On
Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 70 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
[67]
The film received highly positive reviews upon release at a secret screening at the
2015 SXSW Film Festival on March 16, 2015. Ramin Setoodeh of
Variety noted that fans started lining up outside four hours before the film was scheduled to start. The film closed with a touching tribute to Walker, which left many in the theater "holding back tears".
[68]
John DeFore of
The Hollywood Reporter criticized the film as "stupidly diverting", saying the running time was "overinflated"; he compared watching the film to a morbid game, in addition to criticizing the screenplay.
[69]
