'Fast & Furious 7' officially on hiatus after death of Paul Walker

Universal Pictures released a statement today making it official that “Fast & Furious 7” is shutting down indefinitely. The film was shooting in Georgia and had been scheduled to resume filming in Atlanta after Thanksgiving. The death of franchise star Paul Walker over the weekend left the production reeling. “Right now, all of us at Universal are dedicated to providing support to Paul's immediate family and our extended Fast & Furious family of cast, crew and filmmakers,” the studio said. “At this time we feel it is our responsibility to shut down production on Fast & Furious 7 for a period of time so we can assess all options available to move forward with the franchise. We are committed to keeping Fast & Furious fans informed, and we will provide further information to them when we have it. Until then, we know they join us in mourning the passing of our dear friend Paul Walker."

Maybe if the production restarts it will come back to LA to shoot — wouldn't that be nice? Not likely.

Meanwhile, the LA County coroner's office said today that Walker and driver Roger Rodas died "within seconds" of Saturday afternoon's crash of their 2005 Porsche Carrera GT into trees and a light pole on Hercules Street in Santa Clarita.

KABC photo of fans' tributes to Walker