Ridley Scot will immediately reshoot 'All the Money in the World' with Christopher Plummer replacing Kevin Spacey following the latter's sex scandal.
- Nov 9, 2017
AceShowbiz - Things just keep getting worse for Kevin Spacey. After Netflix severed ties with him in the wake of the mounting sexual misconduct allegations against him, the disgraced actor was cut from his completed film "All the Money in the World". Director Ridley Scott decided to remove Spacey from their finished film and tapped Christopher Plummer to replace Spacey for the role of J. Paul Getty. Since Scott doesn't plan to delay the December 22 release date, the necessary reshoots are expected to start forthwith.
It is reported by Deadline that after pulling the film's world premiere at AFI Fest in Los Angeles, the cast and crew of the film agreed to promptly reshoot all of Spacey's scenes. The re-film would need Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams' cooperation for the filming. Scott, who dropped every directing project just for this particular film, thought that the allegations against Spacey might bring the film to its doom. The director also reckoned that the hard work of so many people did not deserve the film's critical flop as a result of Spacey's scandal.
Plummer, a veteran actor best known for his role in "The Sound of Music", was reportedly Scott's first choice for the role of J. Paul Getty. However, the top studio executives pressured the director to find a bigger name, and so Spacey was cast for the role. The former "House of Cards" actor worked about eight days on the film.
Given the fact that his character is an important presence in the film, many of Spacey's scenes only featured him. Therefore, in order to show a seamless end product at the time of the release, the reshoot must be done carefully. Visual effects may become an option to speed up the replacement, but Spacey's scenes were shot in different locations, making the idea seem complicated. To add more challenges, the studio has to redo marketing materials in such short time before the release date.
Scott once had similar situation when Oliver Reed passed away during the production of Oscar-winning "Gladiator". The director eventually relied on CGI and visual effects as a solution to keep the production going. However, those circumstances were entirely different from his decision for "All the Money in the World".
The production insider said that Scott's plan, which was made unilaterally, surprised Sony Pictures, but the studio supported the idea.
