Kevin Spacey just got fired from Ridley Scott’s new movie, a month before its release

Ridley Scott will completely remove Kevin Spacey from his upcoming biopic thriller All the Money in the World — with fewer than two months to go until the movie’s scheduled December 22 release.

According to Deadline, which first reported the news, Christopher Plummer will replace Spacey in the film’s most prominent supporting role. Scott’s drastic choice to cut Spacey from the movie will put it at risk of missing its December 22 release date, thus jeopardizing its Oscar eligibility.

The news follows a wave of sexual assault allegations made against Spacey by more than a dozen people, including multiple accusations of assault on underage victims.

Based on a true story, All the Money in the World details the harrowing 1973 kidnapping of J. Paul Getty’s 16-year-old grandson, J. Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer, no relation), and Getty’s refusal to comply with the kidnappers’ demands. Spacey was set to play the elder Getty, and the decision to reshoot his role entirely, especially so close to the film’s release date, is extremely unprecedented.

The decision to cut Spacey from the film indicates how drastically Hollywood is reacting to the allegations against the actor

Though there have been other historical instances where an actor has been replaced during a film’s production, recasting a role or conducting extensive reshoots after a film has wrapped is rare, and usually only happens to this extent in the case of an unexpected death — for example, Paul Walker’s brothers standing in for reshoots of Furious 7 after his death.

That Scott and the All the Money in the World’s producers are willing to go to such lengths to essentially erase Spacey’s presence from the film speaks to how seriously Hollywood is taking the allegations of sexual assault that have been levied against him — or at least how desperate many people in the entertainment industry are to distance themselves from a man whose behavior was allegedly a longstanding open secret.

The decision comes after the film’s production studio, TriStar, abandoned what would have been an aggressive marketing and awards season campaign built around Spacey’s performance. The studio additionally pulled the film from what would have been an Oscar-bait slot at the American Film Institute’s November film festival. Regarding that decision, TriStar issued a statement, noting, “All the Money in the World is a superb film … 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.”

All the Money in the World features an ensemble cast including Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg. According to Deadline, the decision to replace Spacey and reshoot all of his scenes was “unanimous” among the film’s cast and crew.

Vox has reached out to Spacey’s representatives for comment.

Source:-VOX