'Fast & Furious 7' Movie Trailer, Cast & Release Date: Paul Walker Honored at SXSW Premiere

In November 2013, "Fast and Furious" actor Paul Walker met his untimely death in a car accident. With the seventh film in the franchise still in the works back then, production had to work around his death in order to finish the film.

Production was halted as talks of reworking the film came in light of the events. In the end, it was decided that Walker, as one of the core members of the cast, will be honored, and his character Bryan O'Connor will be given a respectful exit.

With help of CGI and movie magic, "Fast and Furious 7" finally hit the screens and premiered at the South by South West Film Festival Monday morning, with the crowd at the Paramount Theater in Austin going wild for the action sequence and of course, the memory of the late star.

According to the New York Daily News, the film became a tribute for Walker, and producer Neal Moritz said in his opening remarks, "We obviously lost a dear friend while we were making this movie and he was really the best guy I've ever met in my world. The reason we kept this going became on behalf of our brother, Paul Walker."

With this, fans roared their approval, shouts of "We love you, Paul" echoing around the theater.

Despite his death, Walker's character was said to remain a major presence for most of the film with the help of digital tweaking and his brothers, Caleb and Cody used as stand-ins for some of the scenes.

However, with Paul's death comes a noticeable smaller feel to the "Fast and Furious" family. Slash Film noted that even though Vin Diesel expressed the theme of the story by using the word "family" a couple of times, the cast ensemble looks significantly less vibrant, as there are only a few scenes that feature Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Sung Kang and Gal Gadot were also missing from the film, and of course, Walker's death cast a shadow over the production.

However, the entire cast and crew did manage to say a respectful goodbye to Walker, with the website noting that despite the many cheap shots that the film takes, the scenes featuring the late actor was always treated with respect, ensuring that his death is handled well, and his character's exit was made sensitive and moving.

Although reviews of the film were less than stellar, The Hollywood Reporter noted that despite the film's many shortcomings, the bottom line is that "Fast and Furious 7" is a "nuance-free franchise crafts an honorable exit for its departed star."