More than anyone else, it was the late Paul Walker – the handsome, blue-eyed star of Universal's $2 billion “Fast & Furious” mega-franchise – whose presence was most felt at that film's world premiere at South by Southwest -- early Monday local time.

Walker, who plays FBI agent Brian O'Conner in all but one of the films, was killed in a car accident on November 30, 2013, along with his friend and financial advisor, Roger Rodas, who was driving the vehicle. He was 40.

“Furious 7” was mid-production at the time of Walker's death. After a hiatus, Universal and director James Wan, a newcomer to the franchise, decided to complete the film, using Walker's brothers, Caleb and Cody Walker, as body doubles and employing CGI to superimpose Walker's face onto theirs.

The result, it turns out, is fairly seamless, though there are moments, particularly during an extended (and spectacular) sequence in Abu Dhabi, where the digital trickery can only go so far. The film also contains a touching montage tribute to Walker, revisiting scenes from previous “Fast & Furious” films.

The film was introduced by producer Neal Moritz, who said the premiere had come together in less than 24 hours. “Literally yesterday morning I woke up and was reading all these articles about South by Southwest and I was like, 'Why is Fast & Furious not here?'” Moritz told the crowd. “So I called my good friends at Universal and said, 'Is there any chance we can play South by Southwest?' And they said, 'Are you kidding me? These things are planned months and years in advance'.” He continued: “I said, 'What the hell, I tried.' And this morning I woke up and there was a text and it said, 'Ron. It's happening.'” The audience responded with a chorus of deafening cheers. Moritz then turned contemplative as he paid homage to his late star.

“We obviously lost a dear friend, brother, comrade while we were making this movie. He was the best guy I met in my world, in my life. We were determined to honor his legacy and our love for him forever,” he said. 

The dilm's director James Wan, a Malaysian-Australian filmmaker who cut his teeth on the “Saw” franchise, appeared exhausted but relieved to have finally reached the finish line with what had to be the most challenging project of his career: 140 minutes of head-spinning action set pieces, muscle flexing, machine gun fire – and a quintet of cars flying out of an airplane.

Source: Hollywood Reporter