Turns out Vin Diesel is the reason why the scheduled premiere for Furious 7 which was supposed to be held at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on March 10 has been cancelled.
Diesel is reportedly expecting his third child with longtime girlfriend Paloma Jimenez around that time and understandably doesn’t want to miss the birth. This has forced Universal to relocate the premiere to Los Angeles – an appropriate choice considering it’s the genesis of the globally successful franchise. The date has also been moved to April 1.
Diesel who is one of the producers of the highly anticipated film as well as the main star had to be accommodated and even though the Abu Dhabi premiere would have been an amazingly glitzy affair, a studio source confirms that they are more than happy to hold the premiere in LA instead since majority of the franchise’s longstanding fans reside there.
Furious 7 which opens on April 3 was previously scheduled to debut on July 2014 but the tragic death of Paul Walker who played Brian O’Connor, a street racing cop on the wrong side of the law, in a car crash on November 30, 2013, halted production for a few months as writers scrambled to rework the script while director James Wan elicited the help of Walker’s younger brothers, Cody and Caleb to stand in for their late brother in order to complete the unfinished scenes.
The film also stars Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Dwayne Johnson, and Michelle Rodriguez. Jason Statham, Kurt Russell and Ronda Rousey also join the crew as they race through exotic locales like Tokyo and Abu Dhabi.
The franchise has garnered worldwide acclaim and has been a profitable juggernaut for Universal – earning a staggering $2.38 billion globally. This latest installment will expectedly shatter the box office, as fans will take the opportunity to pay tribute to Paul Walker as this marks the last time he will be featured.
The future of the franchise is still a big question mark but there is every reason to believe that despite the loss of one of its leading stars – the fans will still champion additional installments based on the popularity of the remaining cast members.
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