Paul Walker, 40-year old star of the “Fast & Furious” filmfranchise, perished this month by the side of his best friend,Roger Rodas, in a car crash moments after leaving a fundraiser forWalker’s charity organization, Reach Out Worldwide.

Walker’s death in the high-octane crash of Rodas’ 2005 PorscheCarrera GT is mesmerizing, both for its tragedy and terribleirony.

It also halted the popular film franchise in which Walkerstarred.

"At this time we feel it is our responsibility to shut downproduction on 'Fast & Furious 7' for a period of time so we canassess all options available to move forward with the franchise,”stated a press release from Universal Studios.

That is the difference between our fantasies on the screen andus in the actual driver’s seat: we have no guaranteed happyending.Life is no show, but it goes on. Universal toldentertainment news sources that editors have begun reviewingfootage shot with Walker to re-work it into a finalized script.

Universal told entertainment news sources that editors havebegun reviewing footage shot with Walker to re-work it into afinalized script.

Insurance, of course, comes into play when considering the costsfor such tasks. “When an artist in a film is injured, dies orbecomes ill, cast insurance, in conjunction with general liability,reimburses the filmmaker for having to re-film parts that have tobe replaced or continued with a new actor,” says Donna Mescall,underwriting manager at Philadelphia Insurance Companies, whichoffers film production insurance for smaller-budget films anddocumentaries.

“Rarely will an entire project be scrapped because of the lossof a cast member, but the film may have to be reshot to work aroundthem.”

Cast insurance, which is nearly always included in a film’sbudget based on production costs, covers a production company forexpenses incurred to finish making a movie if a cast member dies,becomes too ill to work or is kidnapped.

Several films have been continued after the death of an actor,such as “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” after Heath Ledger’soverdose in 2008, and “Brainstorm” with Natalie Wood who died in aboating accident in 1981, using script re-writes, body doubles orclever editing.

“The hard thing is that, seeing the situation from afar, PaulWalker looked like a good person and an actor with a good losshistory. He died in an accident in which he wasn’t even driving thecar,” says Tim Ehrhart, vice president at Chubb Group of InsuranceCompanies, which offers coverage for film producers.

“An insurance company may stipulate that any death or injuryoccurring outside of film production may not be covered, dependingon the individual’s hobbies, such as car racing, without theirwritten consent.”

Though both Walker and Rodas were known and experiencedracers—Rodas, a financial planner, owned his own car shop—they mayhave been no match for the purported unreliability of the Porschethey were joyriding. The L.A. Times reported about the 2005 Carrera GT’s dark record,and found that it was involved in the deaths of two sports driversin 2005.

Ehrhart says that cast insurance will likely come into play inallowing the film studio to proceed with bringing the next “Fast& Furious” film to life.

A studio can continue filming, but what about the unquantifiablerisks such as backlash from the franchise’s fans?

Says Ehrhart, “As a fan of a series, would you as a consumer notgo see the movie if an actor you like is no longer in it? It’spossible, but not likely.”