While Walker was filming Fast & Furious 7 at the time of his death, he also was slated to star in two additional movies: Agent 47 and The Best of Me. The latter is based on a Nicholas Sparks romance novel.
So who will replace Walker as the film’s lead? None other than Stillwater native James Marsden. With All-American Rejects frontman Tyson Ritter being pegged to play a young Gregg Allman in the upcoming Midnight Rider biopic, Stillwater is fast becoming an acting factory. Who knew?
Deadline.com
reports that Relativity Media and Michael Hoffman, the film’s director,
have offered the film’s male lead role to Marsden, best known for his
work in X-Men and X-Men 2 and most recently in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. While
the deal is still pending negotiation, Marsden would potentially star
alongside Michelle Monaghan. There are worse gigs out there.
This article appears in Jan 22-28, 2014.