Furious 7 had to change its ending after Paul Walker's tragic death, but here's how it originally ended and how much was altered. The seventh installment in Universal's Fast & Furious franchise hit theaters in 2015 and quickly became the highest-grossing entry in the series. The James Wan-directed action flick earned over $1.5 billion worldwide after receiving great reviews. Not only did viewers get the usual amount of big set pieces the Fast & Furious franchise is known for, but most were surprised with the emotional send-off given to Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner.

Near the end of production on Furious 7, tragedy struck the film when Paul Walker died in a car crash on November 30, 2013. The devastating loss of the franchise star resulted in production shutting down for months as the cast and crew grieved. After taking four months off from filming, Furious 7's production resumed in March of 2014 to finish the movie, but also with a plan in place to write Brian O'Conner out of the franchise. Following the film's climactic action scenes, Brian was shown playing with his family on the beach and drove off into the sunset.

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The new ending for Furious 7 was only made possible by reusing and editing some existing footage of Paul, while his brothers Cody and Caleb stood in for him when necessary. However, Furious 7 was not envisioned to be the final appearance by Paul Walker. Details of the original ending and what it meant for Brian's future with the franchise have since been revealed. Here's what's known about the changes made to Furious 7's ending.

What Happened In Furious 7's Original Ending

Fast and Furious 7

A few years after Furious 7 hit theaters, writer Chris Morgan began to reveal what the original ending of the film looked like. The finale still revolved around Brian and the rest of Dominic Toretto's (Vin Diesel) team attempting to stop God's Eye, an advanced computer program capable of finding any person on the planet. But, instead of acknowledging the end of Brian's time with the team, Furious 7 would've ended by setting up the team's next mission together.

It is unclear exactly how Morgan's original script planned to do this, but he has said that there was an insinuation that another mission was in the future. When Furious 7 was in development, Diesel teased that it was the start of a new trilogy of films. With that in mind, it is likely that Furious 7 could've included set up for The Fate of the Furious' story by the end. Whether this ending would've helped set up Cipher (Charlize Theron) or a totally different story is not known. But, Morgan did refer to Dom's team becoming more like outlaws, so that could indicate a different plan was in the works since they have since continued to work closely with Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) and his organization.

As far as Brian is concerned though, his role wasn't changed too drastically, except for when it came to setting up his future. The original Furious 7 ending would've seen him continue to contemplate his place within the team. Brian wouldn't completely leave them behind at the end of the film in this version, but he'd instead have different priorities. He knows by the end of the film that his growing family with Mia (Jordana Brewster) is what is most important to him, so making sure he was always there for him would've been a big part of how Furious 7's ending would shape Brian's future.

Related: Furious 7: Which Brian O'Conner Scenes Weren't Paul Walker

Everything Furious 7 Kept In The Final Version

Furious 7 Dwayne Johnson Hobbs

The changes made to Furious 7's ending were drastic in terms of what it meant for Brian's arc in the franchise, but the final version of the film proved to otherwise keep the core aspects of the finale intact. With Walker's death and the rewrites coming about half-way through production, the general scope of the film was already in place. Universal and Wan would've had to prolong filming even more to reshoot earlier parts of the film. In the end, the best direction for Furious 7 to take was to focus the attention of the changes on Brian's role and let the majority of the ending play out as planned.

As a result, Furious 7's third act is focused on destroying God's Eye. Dom's team enlisted the aid of God's Eye creator Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) to hack into the program and take it down. While Brian, Ramsey, and the other usual members of Dom's crew are focused on this part of the mission, Dom engages in a brawl with Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) and nearly dies as a parking garage collapses around him. But, Brian's role in the finale wasn't completely changed, as Walker did film significant scenes from the third act, including Dom's possible death. For the scenes that Walker didn't film, a mixture of body doubles, CGI, and old footage were used to finish Brian's role.

Furious 7 Still Set Up Fast & Furious' Future

The Fate of the Furious Poster

Despite the different endings that Furious 7 could've had, both versions of the film helped set up the future of the Fast & Furious franchise. Later installments would surely be different if Paul Walker was still alive, especially considering the details Morgan has outlined. Brian balancing saving the world with his family life would be a natural evolution of his arc and tie perfectly into the franchise's themes about family. Brian's story might have ended with Furious 7, but bigger storylines from the film have already been paid off in sequels and spinoffs.

The movie does a decent job setting up The Fate of the Furious in hindsight, with the eighth installment of the series building off of multiple aspects of Furious 7's story. God's Eye once again plays a vital role in the series as it is part of Cipher's plan in The Fate of the Furious, which also sees Ramsey continue to be a member of the team. Another evolution for the franchise came with expanding the role of Mr. Nobody's organization, including the introduction of Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood). The film also brought back Deckard Shaw and began a redemptive arc for the crew's last villain.

Related: Why The Fast Saga Didn't End After Furious 7

Speaking of Deckard Shaw, Furious 7 also serves as the beginning of his connection to Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson). The two square off early in the film, resulting in Hobbs suffering serious injuries and recovering in a hospital for most of the two hours and twenty-minute runtime. Hobbs was shown putting Deckard in a secure prison at the end of the film too, which set up their next encounter in The Fate of the Furious. This even helped set up Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw after the fact. All in all, Furious 7 didn't have the ending it was originally scheduled to have, but the franchise has found a way to still move forward and expand.

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