Fast and Furious Star Paul Walker Dies in Car Crash
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Actor Paul Walker, star of Universal Pictures' high-octane Fast and Furious movies, died Saturday afternoon in a fiery car crash.
According to Walker's official Facebook page the 40-year-old actor was a passenger in a friend's car and they both died in the crash. Before the accident, Walker was attending a car show charity event in support of his "Reach Out World Wide" Foundation, a fast-response disaster relief organization.
The driver of the car has been identified as 38-year-old Roger Rodas, CEO of Walker's high-performance motorworks company and racing team "Always Evolving."
In The Fast and the Furious (2001) and its successful sequels, Walker played Brian O'Conner, a former undercover cop-turned street racer, and co-starred alongside actors Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson and Dwayne Johnson.
Walker was in the middle of shooting Fast & Furious 7, a sequel to this summer's blockbuster Fast & Furious 6, with director James Wan. It's unknown how production will handle his sudden death.
Paul Walker was also set to replace actor Timothy Olyphant as Agent 47 in Fox International Productions' Hitman reboot.
Universal Pictures has released the following statement, "All of us at Universal are heartbroken. Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the FAST AND FURIOUS films, and to countless fans. We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul's family."
Paul Walker will next appear in writer/director Eric Heisserer's indie thriller Hours slated for a limited release on December 13, 2013.
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