Kevin Spacey will no longer star in Ridley Scott’s All The Money in the World, despite the film being completed and scheduled for release in the US on Dec. 22. And it’s looking increasingly unlikely that we’ll see him in a new film ever again.
The actor will be replaced by Christopher Plummer as John Paul Getty in the Sony project, which tells the story of the kidnapping of the oil billionaire’s teenage grandson in 1973. The decision follows numerous accusations of sexual harassment and assault against Spacey over the last two weeks.
According to Variety, Scott and production company Imperative Entertainment made the decision to fire Spacey from the project, and were supported by Sony.
It’s an unprecedented move given that the film’s release is only six weeks away, and Spacey has already featured in the trailer for the film. Re-shoots will now take place with co-stars Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg, and the film’s premiere at AFI Fest will no longer go ahead.
Scott and Sony aren’t the first to cut ties with Spacey since Anthony Rapp accused him of making sexual advances towards him when he was just 14. Since then, a number of others have made similar claims, including former TV news anchor Heather Unruh, who accused him of groping her teenage son last year. Netflix fired Spacey from the final season of House of Cards, which will now be rewritten, having already entered production.
These unprecedented moves by Netflix and Sony are symbolic of how different this scandal is in comparison to others that have plagued the film industry in the past.
Hollywood loves a comeback story, as we well know.
Many actors and directors have been welcomed back into the fold after personal scandals. For example, Mel Gibson acted in at least eight movies since 2011, and was even nominated for an Oscar earlier this year for directing Hacksaw Ridge, despite spates of anti-semitic remarks, as well as recordings that heard him admitting to hitting and then threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend seven years ago. Robert Downey Jr. is now one of the highest-paid and most celebrated actors in the world but between 1996 and 2001, he spent most of his time in jail for charges related to possession of heroin and cocaine.
But this time it’s different. The sense that Hollywood has been permanently changed by this scandal, which began with the accusations of rape, sexual assault and harassment against Harvey Weinstein, is growing. Weinstein has been sacked from his own company that bears his name and the board can’t sell it. Right now, a comeback for a Hollywood kingmaker like Weinstein seems almost impossible, and the idea of seeing Spacey in any more new films feels increasingly unlikely.
Spacey has two more films that are in post-production, Gore and Billionaire Boys Club. But if the film makers follow Ridley Scott and Sony’s lead, it looks like the last film or show we may see Spacey in is House of Cards, where he had a dishonorable discharge.