Ridley Scott’s latest film, All the Money in the World, is set to hit theaters on Dec. 22; however, Kevin Spacey will no longer be in the film. In a bizarrely unique move, Scott has decided to edit out all of Spacey’s scenes and reshoot them with highly respected actor Christopher Plummer instead.
The news was first reported by Deadline on Nov. 8, later confirmed by Sony and Scott. The cast and crew involved with the film, along with Sony Pictures and Imperative Entertainment, agreed to the casting change. These reshoots include several scenes with Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams, whom both offered their full cooperation.
This move comes after Scott and Imperative Entertainment’s Dan Friedkin decided to remove All the Money in the World from the closing night slot of the AFI Festival. “All the Money in the World is a superb film and more than worthy of its place of honor in the AFI Fest,” TriStar Pictures said following the announcement via Deadline. “But given the current allegations surrounding one of its actors and out of respect for those impacted, it would be inappropriate to celebrate at a gala at this difficult time. Accordingly, the film will be withdrawn.”
“However,” they continued, “a film is not the work of one person. There are over 800 other actors, writers, artists, craftspeople and crew who worked tirelessly and ethically on this film, some for years, including one of cinema’s master directors. It would be a gross injustice to punish all of them for the wrongdoings of one supporting actor in the film.”
Sony still vowed to continue on with the release of All the Money in the World as planned. Scott, however, couldn’t let the allegations against Spacey go and told Sony he wanted to reshoot all his scenes. The company agreed, on the condition that the same release date is met.
This decision from Scott comes after rapidly increasing stories of Spacey’s sexual misbehavior have come to light from multiple sources. Now, much of Hollywood has parted ways with Spacey, Netflix having halting production of House of Cards last week with the announcement that the show would soon end.
Spacey had spent eight days filming his scenes. It’s currently not known when the reshoots with Plummer will take place.
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Plummer will be playing J. Paul Getty in All the Money in the World, the wealthy yet hermetic oilman who refused to pay the ransom that was demanded after his grandson, John Paul Getty III, was kidnapped. Along with Wahlberg and Williams, Charlier Plummer and Andrew Buchan star in the film as well.
It’s a race against the clock to see if the film can be finished in time to still meet the Dec. 22 release date, although Scott remains adamant that it can be done.
Watch the original trailer (while it's still available) for All the Money in the World below — the one that still stars Kevin Spacey — and let us know what you think of this bold move from Scott in the comments below.