Fast and Furious 7, the action film that was shut down after the sudden death in a car crash last month of actor Paul Walker will be released in April 2015, the star of the series, Vin Diesel, said.

The actor posted a message on his Facebook page saying “Fast and Furious 7 will be released ... April 10th 2015!,” adding: “P.S. He’d want you to know first ...,” in an apparent reference to Walker, who was killed on November 30 in a fiery car wreck.

The film, the seventh in a series of hit films about car racing, was originally slated for release on July 11 next year, according to Universal Pictures, which is owned by Comcast Corp.

The Diesel-led Fast & Furious movies, which have grossed more than $2 billion at the global box office, are one of two major franchises, along with the animated Despicable Me films, that helped turn around Universal Pictures in recent years.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.