Production on the seventh instalment of the Fast & Furious film series is set to resume in the coming weeks following the death of franchise star Paul Walker, according to new cast member Kurt Russell.

The Thing star was cast in Fast & Furious 7 to play a "father figure" to Vin Diesel and Walker's characters, but he is now unsure about how his character's storyline will move forward following the actor's tragic passing.

He tells Ew.com, "At the time, we were talking about (my character) possibly going into a future episode as a sort of father figure to Vin and Paul's character (sic) - or possibly die in Fast & Furious 7. The character was created to go either way, and it will be interesting to see what they do now, if there's any change in that. I don't know if there will be. But obviously, they're working hard on doing what they have to do to try to make that thing work.

"I think they're going to gear up again in February or March, so we'll see."

However, Russell is grateful he had the chance to work with Walker before his untimely demise in a car crash in November (13).

The acting veteran continues, "That was a terrific guy. I just met him on the (movie set) and I was just very struck by how similar our lives are and how we looked at life. All the things he did outside of acting that he really enjoyed were similar to the things that I like to do. He was a hell of a good guy."

Meanwhile, studio executives are set to meet with the franchise stars on Friday (10Jan14) to discuss plans for the future of the highly popular movies.

In a Facebook.com post on Thursday (09Jan14), Diesel wrote, "(Friday) we meet with the studio, regarding the future of the Fast saga... and the completion of Seven."