Fast & Furious 7 has been given a surprise world premiere at the SXSW arts festival in the US - having been rushed in at the last minute.

The eagerly awaited sequel, which features the last appearance from the late Paul Walker, was shown just after midnight on Saturday - less than 24 hours after producer Neal Moritz asked the organisers about it.

According to Digital Spy, he explained: "Literally yesterday morning I woke up and was reading all these articles about South by Southwest and I was like, 'What the f**k?! Why is Fast & Furious not here?'

"So I called my good friends at Universal and said, 'Is there any chance we can play South by Southwest?' And they said, 'Are you kidding me? These things are planned months and years in advance'.

"I said, 'What the hell, I tried'. And this morning I woke up and there was a text and it said, 'It's happening'."

There's already a strong buzz around the movie after the screening, with mention being made of the touching tribute sequence to late star Paul Walker.

Speaking before the screening, Moritz told the audience that he had "lost a dear friend, brother, comrade while we were making this movie".

And he continued: "He was the best guy I met in my world, in my life. We were determined to honour his legacy and our love for him forever."

He asked the crowd to keep their lips zipped about the way Walker's character Brian O'Connor exits the story - but reaction to the way the movie was completed without him was positive.

It is reported that the use of his brothers Caleb and Cody combined with CGI creates an almost seamless effect.

The movie hits UK cinemas on 3 April.