Ever since actor Paul Walker and his friend Roger Rodas were killed in a horrific car accident on November 30, 2013, there has been speculation as to what the ultimate fate of Fast & Furious 7 would be.

Would Universal simply scrap the film all together in light of the tragedy? As you already know, this is not the case. Then, the question was would they still be able to use the footage that they had already shot containing Walker’s character Brian O’Conner?

Thankfully, the studio decided to devise a way to use the footage in order to retire Walker’s character. However, did this mean that they planned on killing his character off and ending the franchise, or had they developed a better plan?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, they have opted for the better plan.

Their sources have told them that Walker’s character will not be killed off in the upcoming Fast & Furious 7. Instead, the studio plans to “retire” the character in such a manner that satisfy fans while still allowing them to make use of the footage Walker had shot prior to his death.

Director James Wan sat down with Chris Morgan, who wrote the script for the film, and Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, Universal’s lead executive on the Fast & Furious franchise, in order to work everything out.

The three of them have come up with a plan that will tweak the script in such a way that Brian O’Conner could remain a part of the story, but could be written out allowing for the continuation of the franchise.

According to the report, the changes they’ve decided on will require additional scenes to be both written and shot; however, with the film’s recent delay, they should have no issues in getting this all accomplished ahead of the necessary deadline.

It will be interesting to see how the franchise will move on without Walker. He has been such an integral part of the storyline that it is almost hard to think of the franchise without him. One can only hope that completing the film in the wake of Walker’s death can help the cast and crew of the film that have become so close with the actor over all these years to cope with the loss of their friend and help to find some closure on the matter.

Fast & Furious 7 is scheduled to be released on April 10, 2015.