Spacey removed from Ridley Scott’s film after scandal

LOS ANGELES: 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 Hollywood publications — Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood.

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 publications reported.

Sony Pictures also withdrew the movie from the American Film Institute’s (AFI) annual festival here 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, were expected to be involved with the reshoots. Sources told Variety that Spacey shot about two weeks worth of footage and that there were many scenes where Getty was the only character.

The reshooting comes after actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of trying to seduce him in 1986, when Rapp was 14.

Spacey had said he did not remember the incident, but has apologised. Reuters