The director and producers of the completed but unreleased Hollywood film “All the Money in the World” have chosen to remove Kevin Spacey from the movie, recast his role and reshoot his scenes following sexual misconduct allegations against the actor.
The extraordinary measure to erase a leading actor from a completed major studio picture and reconstruct the film without him was reported by three major Hollywood trade publications – Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood.
A source close to the distributor of the film, Sony Pictures, told Reuters the accounts were accurate.
Spacey will be replaced by veteran actor Christopher Plummer in the role of the late US oil tycoon, Jean Paul Getty, in the Ridley Scott-directed drama about the 1973 kidnapping of his then teenage grandson, John Paul Getty III, the three publications reported.
Sony Pictures also withdrew the movie from the American Film Institute’s (AFI) annual festival in Los Angeles on Nov 16. The film is expected to open on Dec 22, Variety reported.
Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams, who also star in the movie, are expected to be involved with the reshoots. Sources told Variety that Spacey shot about two weeks worth of footage and that there are many scenes where Getty is the only character.
The reshooting comes after actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of trying to seduce him in 1986 when Rapp was 14. Spacey has said he does not remember the incident but has apologised. According to his representatives he is seeking unspecified treatment.
Eight current and former employees of the Netflix TV show “House of Cards,” who were not identified, also have accused Spacey, the star of the show, of sexual misconduct, CNN has reported.
It said it would not be involved in further production of “House of Cards” with Spacey, who reportedly had been suspended from the political show. Netflix has said it also will not release the film “Gore,” in which Spacey plays the late US writer Gore Vidal.