Since the whole Harvey Weinstein scandal has broken it’s taken in a whole load of other people most notably Kevin Spacey who, in what was Hollywood’s worst kept secret, came out as being gay in a shameful attempt to divert attention from the allegation that he was ‘inappropriate’ with underage actors. For Spacey, a double Oscar winner, the fallout is getting steadily worse as anyone remotely associated with him quickly rows for shore with his agent and manager quickly dropping him. Almost immediately Netflix have ceased production on ‘House of Cards’ in order to rewrite the scripts so that he is no longer in the series.
The latest is the astonishing haste with which he is being removed wholesale from Ridley Scott’s new film, ‘All the money in the World‘ where he plays John Paul Getty and is to be replaced by Christopher Plummer.
Scott and the film’s financier, Imperative Entertainment, are refusing to stand by and watch their kidnap be overwhelmed by the Spacey situation. So every single one of Spacey’s scenes is to be reshot or edited out but what makes this astonishing is that the film is being released on December 22nd 2017 and is a serious Oscar contender with Spacey’s performance having been marked out for possible nomination.
Sony Pictures, who are distributing the film, wholly support the move and Ridley Scott will begin reshoots immediately as Christopher Plummer steps into the role.
Apparently Spacey did no more than 10 days’ work on the film and wears heavy make-up in character as the oil magnate, who refuses to buckle when his grandson is abducted by the Italian Mob with Michelle Williams playing the boy’s mother and Mark Wahlberg as Getty’s advisor.
Earlier this week Sony and Imperative withdrew the film from its prestigious AFI closing night screening and they do not the film tainted by association with Spacey convinced of both the film’s awards and commercial prospects and are believed to push it in all major awards categories once award season begins shortly.
It rounds off what has not been a great year for Ridley Scott which started off with so much expectation. ‘Alien Covenant‘ disappointed both critically and at the box office making little more than half what Prometheus earned and jeopardizing the future of the franchise. Then ‘Blade Runner 2049‘ though critically adored has fared badly at the box office with current projections suggesting that it may have lost $80m so we hope for his sake that ‘All the Money in the World’ is third time lucky for him.
Watch the original trailer here before it gets pulled or edited……
