Diesel fights back tears for friend Paul Walker

LAS VEGAS: Vin Diesel choked back tears on Wednesday as he paid an emotional tribute to his dead “The Fast and the Furious” co- star Paul Walker at the CinemaCon convention.

The 49-year- old revealed it was Walker who insisted there should be an eighth instalment in the US$ 3.9 billion franchise, as he introduced “The Fate of the Furious” at the gathering in Las Vegas.

“Part of Paul’s legacy lives through every frame that we shoot... You are reminded of this angel that was so integral to this concept of brotherhood for our millennium,” Diesel said, fighting his emotions.

“There’s something beautiful about that. There’s something celebratory about that... I always feel like he’s looking down on us, so we didn’t want to let him down.”

Walker was 40 when he died in a fiery single-vehicle crash in California in 2013, before the seventh film was released.

Tyrese Gibson, who has been in the high- octane franchise since “2 Fast, 2 Furious” ( 2003), echoed Diesel’s tribute. — AFP