Paul Walker's upcoming film to release as scheduled

Producers of Paul Walker's latest film Hours have decided to proceed with the release as planned, despite the actor's death.

The 40-year-old actor was killed in a car crash in Santa Clarita, California on Saturday (30Nov13), just two weeks before his new movie was set to hit select cities in the U.S.

On Sunday (01Dec13), executives from the film's production companies met to decide the fate of the movie and decided to continue on with the release as planned in honor of Walker.

Pantelion Films CEO Paul Presburger tells The Hollywood Reporter, "After lots of back and forth, this is our decision. It's Paul's tour de force. He's in every frame of the movie. Paul would have very much wanted us to move forward. He was incredibly proud of this project.

"We did a press junket two weeks ago, and I remember sitting with him and how excited he was for people to see this movie. He really looked to this movie to show people that he is an actor. He was looking for something to showcase his acting skills, which he so rarely had the chance to do. He hit it out of the park."

Hours, which takes place in the aftermath of the deadly Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005, features Walker as a soon-to-be dad who rushes to a New Orleans hospital after his wife goes into early labour. The birth goes wrong, and he becomes cut-off from the rest of the world with his ill newborn when the storm hits and the hospital is forced to evacuate.

Meanwhile, bosses at Universal are still discussing how to carry on with the Fast & Furious 7, which Walker was on hiatus from at the time of his death.

Walker, who was attending a charity event, was a passenger in a Porsche sports car which crashed into a lightpost and tree and burst into flames, killing both Walker and his business partner Roger Rodas instantly.