Kurt Russell talks 'Fast & Furious' franchise changes after Paul Walker's death

Cast member Kurt Russell arrives for a screening of the film "The Art of the Steal" at the 38th Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto September 11, 2013. (Reuters)

Calling his late castmate Paul Walker "a terrific guy," Kurt Russell says he's not sure what will happen with his role in the latest "Fast & Furious" movie.

Russell joined the seventh film in the franchise and plays a father figure to Vin Diesel's character Dominic Toretto. The 62-year-old actor said he had one day left of filming when Walker died in a car crash outside Los Angeles last November.

"They're having to rewrite, they're having to do whatever they're having to do to deal with the situation. Listen, it's catastrophic. It's the worst thing that could happen to a movie, but it's not as bad as what happened to Paul," Russell said in an interview at the Sundance Film Festival, where he's promoting a documentary about his father's minor-league baseball team, "The Battered Bastards of Baseball." ''So everything is in perspective. He was a terrific guy. And life is full of curveballs."

The latest film in the fast-car franchise, directed by James Wan, is now set for release in April 2015. Russell expects to return to set sometime this year.

Russell said of his character, whom he didn't name: "Whether or not this guy dies off in the movie, we don't know, and that may have changed now significantly, too."