The cast and crew of All the Money in the World have spent the last 10 days in London and Rome reshooting crucial scenes for the December 22nd release. At a cost of $10 million — a fourth of the original $40 million budget — the pickups were needed to cut out disgraced star Kevin Spacey after allegations of sexual misconduct were raised against him. Director Ridley Scott went back to one of his original choices for the part of J Paul Getty, Christopher Plummer, and with the production companies on board, the unprecedented reshoots were on.
As the second round of filming enters its final day (November 29th), we’re getting our first look at Plummer in the role of the oil billionaire who refused to pay the ransom for his kidnapped grandson. Simply in the way he says, “Nothing,” it’s clear Plummer’s performance will be something quite different from Spacey’s. Still, by removing the controversial actor, Scott hopes to keep the film’s Oscar hopes alive and the integrity of the picture intact. Check out the new trailer above, and compare it to one with Spacey below. Update: Unsurprisingly, the Spacey-featuring trailer has been removed.
Scott has also spoken out about the recasting for the first time, and he seems positively giddy about it. In an interview with EW, the filmmaker expressed the utmost confidence in the process. Asked if he ever considered pushing the release date to 2018, Scott simply said, “No.” He expounded,
“Because I know I can deliver. I move like lightning. I’m already two scenes ahead. It’s simple! If you know what you’re doing, you don’t need 19 takes. You do one for the actor, one for me. It’s all planned out. When you storyboard, you’ve already pre-filmed the movie in your head — the wide shots, close shots, establishing shots. You’ve gotten some of your weird ideas when you’re quietly sitting, storyboarding by yourself. After a while you learn to trust and listen to your intuition. And I listen to mine. I trust it.”
He also stated he was “totally” happy with Spacey’s performance, and that he never had an inkling of any misconduct on set. Even so, there was never a question about replacing the actor. “I sat and thought about it and realized, we cannot,” he said. “You can’t tolerate any kind of behavior like that. And it will affect the film. We cannot let one person’s action affect the good work of all these other people. It’s that simple.”
The director also explained how these reshoots were easier than when Oliver Reed died during the production of Gladiator. “With Ollie, I didn’t have anything of him except bits and pieces and I had to reassemble him digitally. This is a real person and I’m simply reshooting the scenes. We’ll finish next week and I’ll go straight into the editing room, but most of it will already be slotted in. We’ll smooth out any wrinkles, and bingo, we’re there.”
In fact, Scott, who turns 80 tomorrow, is so on top of his game that he’s already scouting locations for his next film, an adaptation of Don Winslow’s The Cartel. As for the revelations coming out of Hollywood in recent weeks, Scott doesn’t imagine they’ll be done anytime soon. “There will still be a few more people out there gritting their teeth who are way overdue,” he said.
All the Money in the World recounts the true-life tale of the abduction of John Paul Getty III. With the kidnapped teen’s grandfather unwilling to pay the $17 million ransom, his mother, Gail Harris (Michelle Williams), and Getty’s advisor (Mark Wahlberg) set out to free the boy. Thanks to the amazing effort by Scott and the entire production team, the movie will still open on December 22nd.