When Fast & Furious star Paul Walker passed recently, the film sequel was put on hold. Now that producers are moving forward, and the question is how should they finish a film that is already more than half-way done filming?

There has been talk of rewriting, re-editing or even using stand-ins to film the remaining scenes.

But one suggestion has stirred a lot of controversy: Use a CGI Paul Walker! (Basically a computer generated likeness) Some people have suggested this is bad taste, disrespectful, creepy. Maybe it is, I don’t know. Now that producers have confirmed this solution, the backlash has begun.

BUT… I personally think they SHOULD use CGI Paul Walker. And here’s why. (And it is not because CGI has improved. That doesn’t matter!)

His Real Performances!

Typically, I’m against bringing back actors but the movie was already at least half-way done filming before Paul Walker passed. SO they have his REAL last performances in the film.

Now since movies are typically filmed out-of-order, it’s possible these finished scenes are missing important connecting moments that are needed to tell the story and maintain continuity.

So producers have to choose:

1. Cut his character entirely and re-shoot/rewrite the film without Paul Walker. (Movie insurance would cover the cost):

END RESULT: No Real Paul & No CGI Paul.

2. Use a CGI-version of the character to finish the missing scenes and keep the majority of his REAL performance in the movie:

END RESULT: Real Paul with Some CGI Paul.

Whether you are a fan of the movies or not, they were always fun and well made. And these films may well be his legacy so I think it would be a shame to cut all of his last performances over some CGI that is only meant to help keep the true Paul Walker in the film so producers don’t have to cut him out.

NOTE: I’m not tied to production so I’m not sure the specifics of how they plan to do the CGI stuff but I wanted to make this post to offer some perspective. Hopefully they have the same idea!