Ludacris Furious 7 Synchs?

Ludacris, born September 11, '77
             in Champaign, Illinois, USA

The Rock lip syncing in his
"People's 7 Champ" t-shirt

I caught this clip of The Rock lip-syncing to Taylor Swift's Shake it Off wearing a t-shirt that had "People's 7 Champ" on the front.

Of course, I was aware The Rock had a film to plug, so the "People's 7 Champ" shirt was an obvious nod to his latest film Furious 7 I thought, but it also got me thinking was there any other 7s synching with the film, as I knew the release date for the movie was Good Friday, because -

1. the date for Good Friday this year was 4/3 (4+3=7) and is on the poster for the film, and 
2. holiday periods like Easter bring the cash to the Box Office in bucket-loads if you can get people interested enough to see your film?

And of course, the death of Paul Walker was obviously going to get people along to the cinema to see his last "Furious" film (I have to admit that it was one of the main reasons that I went to the cinema to see it).

Paul Walker, born September 12,'73.
Died November 30,'13

When I looked up the actors who starred with Paul Walker in Furious 7 I was surprised to see that Ludacris was born Christopher Brian Bridges on September 11, '77 in Champaign, Illinois, USA and that he plays Tej (Jet spelled backwards?) in the "Furious" movies, and that Paul's birthday is the next day (September 12th) to Ludacris, even though they were born 4 years apart.

My real interest though was to see how fellow Aussie James Wan, director of Furious 7 would handle his first non-horror flick.

James Wan was born on
February 26, 1977

James Wan was born in 1977, same year as Ludacris was, too.
James is probably best known for writing and directing movies such as Saw (which has a current IMDB score of 7.7, ironically enough), Insidious and The Conjuring.

In fact, James' next film in the director's chair is The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist. 

The first Conjuring movie was based on a real life haunting involving a possessed doll.

I notice in the Annabelle video above that there is a #15"The Devil" tarot card attached to the dolls case.

Tarot card #15?
2015?

"Meanwhile .... Furious 7 races to worldwide BOX office lead.
Interest in the film was at least partially tied to its late star

Paul Walker, who died in a car crash in before the film was completed in 2013.
Following the fatal accident, production on Furious 7 was suspended while the filmmakers decided whether or not to proceed.
The team ultimately decided to delay the release from its scheduled July 2014 date. 
Walker's scenes were completed using a mixture of computer animation and body doubles - including two of the star's younger brothers, Caleb and Cody.
Paul Walker was attending a charity event in 2013 when the car he was traveling in crashed
"This is a bittersweet installment in the franchise," said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.
"Walker's passing made this movie more intriguing for people who hadn't seen some of the installments. 
It raised awareness and its success is a tribute to him."
Film company Universal said Walker's death "probably created some curiosity" amongst audiences but added: 
"It's not by any means the prime motivator to see the movie"."

The ironic thing I also see here with the movie Furious 7 getting a Good Friday cinema release is that the media try to bring an Easter message of road safety to motorists in a nationwide campaign to avoid deaths on our roads in Australia.
And having spent Easter Thursday driving from Brisbane to Byron Bay and back again, this was rammed home with signs saying double demerit speeding fines were in force for the Easter weekend. 

Then the next day I see this story on the news -
"Bob Burns, a founding member of rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, 
has died in a car crash at the age of 64.
The drummer, who played on the band's first two albums, was killed when his car left the road on Friday, striking a mailbox and a tree.
Georgia State Patrol spokeswoman Tracey Watson said Burns, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was killed in the wreck.
He was alone in the car, and no other cars were involved. 
Police are trying to establish if weather was a factor."
Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Bob Burns dies in car crash

Bob Burns
(November 24, 1950 – April 3, 2015)

I couldn't help but think of Donnie Darko when I read this about ROBERT Burns running into a mailbox then a tree on Good Friday (Easter Bunny?), as one of Lynyrd Skynyrd's big hits was "Free Bird", which made me think of ROBERTa SPARROW who kept checking her mailbox in the movie.

The band Lynyrd Skynyrd rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its live performances and signature tunes "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird". 

At the peak of their success, three members died in an airplane crash in 1977, putting an abrupt end to the band's most popular incarnation.

Burns’ vehicle went off a road just before MIDNIGHT as it approached a curve near Cartersville, Georgia, striking a mailbox and a tree, State Patrol spokeswoman Tracey Watson said. 
The plane that drops the engine on Darko's house in the movie left the airport at MIDNIGHT.

Not that I'm a Roman Catholic, but the whole midnight thing reminds me of the two great Roman Catholic occasions for celebrating a Midnight Mass.
The birth and resurrection of Jesus.
"By long tradition and liturgical law, Mass is not celebrated at any time on Good Friday 
(but Holy Communion is distributed, with hosts consecrated at the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, to those participating in the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord) 
 or on Holy Saturday before the Easter Vigil 
(the beginning of the celebration of Easter Sunday),
 in other words, between the annual celebrations of the Lord's Supper and the Resurrection of Jesus (see Easter Triduum)."
Time of celebration of Mass

An Easter Bunny in October?

To me the cinema has just about always been a holy place that I go to step outside of my mundane life and think about life for a couple of hours.
And I think this is why people flock to a film where a lead actor has had his, or her life cut tragically short, before the film could be completed.
Because it makes people think about life and DEATH, not just mundane life.

You can't help sitting there when watching a movie like this and wonder if this is all there is ... unless of course you've had some near-death experience ... in which case you wonder what awaits you after you hang up your stupid man suit.

With James Wan being born in '77 and from Oz (Australia) it also brings to mind Crowley's Liber Oz.
"Liber OZ (or "Book 77") is a single page by English author and occultist Aleister Crowley purporting to declare mankind's basic and intrinsic rights according to Crowley's philosophy of Thelema. 
Written in 1941, the work consists of five succinct and concise paragraphs, being one of the latest and shortest of Crowley's many "libri," or books.
The document is written in very simple English. No word within Liber OZ has more than one syllable. 
This is to ensure that it will be understandable to anyone who reads it, no matter what their proficiency in English."

Although, not being a big fan of Crowley myself, I prefer to think of Oz as somewhere over the rainbow and associated more with the number 42.

UPDATE: 2018

More Ludacris Synchs for 2018?