Walker’s death propels interest in franchise’s latest installment ReutersPaul Walker’s death halfway through filming of “Furious 7” is fueling interest in the street-racing movie.(MarketWatch)—In Hollywood, the sixth sequel to a film often means the series is about to flame out, but for “The Fast and the Furious” franchise, box-office prognosticators say the seventh could set a record, due in part to the last appearance by one of its stars who died during filming. The latest incarnation in the street-racing series, “Furious 7,” turned in $67.3 million in North American box-office on Friday, and Comcast Corp.’sCMCSK, +0.02% Universal Pictures unit is predicting it will end up with nearly $150 million in domestic receipts for the Friday-to-Sunday period. Box-office watchers say it could be the biggest grosser in the series by far. “This obliterates the April record, breaking the weekend and the single-day [records],” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Rentrak. Helping fuel interest in the film is the challenge imposed on “Furious” filmmakers as one of its stars, Paul Walker, died in a real-life car accident about halfway through the shooting of the film, in November 2013. Its producers were forced to pull a few Hollywood tricks, including body doubles and heavy use of computer graphics imaging, to complete the scenes featuring Walker. The old April record of $95 million was set by last year’s “Captain America,” followed by two others in the “Furious” series, 2011’s “Fast Five” and 2009’s “Fast & Furious.” “Fast Five” made more than $86 million domestically on its first weekend, while “Fast & Furious,” the fourth film in the series made nearly $71 million. Since the series made its debut in 2001, each successive “Furious” film has made more than its predecessors, except for 2006’s “Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift,” the third film in the series. The biggest moneymaker thus far has been 2013’s “Fast & Furious 6,” which was released in May 2013, about six months before Walker died. “Fast & Furious 6” made nearly $790 million world-wide. Dergarabedian says this latest installment, with the back story of Walker’s death, could push it to nearly $1 billion, particularly since there is little on the release slate between now and the first weekend of May, the beginning of Hollywood’s traditional summer season. “It was already predicted to be a major hit, no question about it,” Dergarabedian said.