Despite the Death of Paul Walker, Two Movies Will Go On as Planned

By BROOKS BARNES

LOS ANGELES – Universal Pictures isn’t yet sure how it will proceed on “Fast & Furious 7” following the death of Paul Walker, one of the unfinished film’s charismatic leads. But it was decided on Monday that two of Mr. Walker’s smaller movies, both completed, will go forward as planned.

“Paul was so proud of his performance – he saw it as a game-changer for him to be seen as an actor and not just an action star – that we felt it was what he would want,” said Peter Safran, a producer of “Hours,” a low-budget drama starring Mr. Walker. “Hours” arrives on video-on-demand services and in limited theatrical release on Dec. 13.

Similarly, “Brick Mansions,” a $20-million drama from EuropaCorp and Relativity Media, will receive a release as planned in the first quarter of next year. Mr. Walker, who was killed in a car accident on Saturday, plays an undercover police officer in this film, which wrapped production in September.

While there is no playbook for Universal to follow with “Fast & Furious 7” — a car racing franchise starring an actor who died in a high-speed car crash – some basic operating procedures apply to “Hours” and “Brick Mansions,” Hollywood veterans said on Monday. Rule No. 1 involves never mentioning that this is one of his last performances.

“It’s the single grossest thing you can do, because it looks like you are capitalizing on it,” said the chief of one movie studio, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so he could speak candidly. A senior studio marketer, speaking on a similar condition, said: “It’s very simple, actually. All the messaging becomes about honoring this guy’s memory by celebrating the performance.”

Case studies include films like “Enough Said,” which was successfully released by Fox Searchlight in October after the June death of its star, James Gandolfini; “The Dark Knight,” which was aggressively marketed with Heath Ledger’s image after his 2008 overdose; and the critical darling “Waitress,” which was released after the gruesome murder of its director, writer and co-star, Adrienne Shelly.

(There are some prime examples of what not to do when a star dies in midproduction or midrelease, too, going back to 1937, when MGM made the disastrous decision to use a body double in a floppy hat to complete “Saratoga” after the on-set death of Jean Harlow.)

Pantelion Films, a company that focuses on Hispanic filmgoers in particular, will make no changes to its marketing for “Hours,” which is essentially a solo performance by Mr. Walker as a father trying to keep his infant daughter alive after Hurricane Katrina. “After working through our shock, we decided the best response was to go with the plan that had been presented to him and that he was excited about,” said Paul Presburger, Pantelion’s chief executive.

The tagline for the film, written long before Mr. Walker’s death: “Every second counts.”