Ridley Scott‘s recent decision to re-cast, re-shoot and re-edit All The Money In The World within 35 or so days (actually less when you consider that 87-year-old Christopher Plummer, Kevin Spacey‘s stellar replacement, won’t begin shooting his scenes in Rome and Wadi Rum, Jordan until 11.20) has to be one of the ballsiest and most heroic moves any director has made in Hollywood history.
Prior to the 11.22 NYC premiere of The Man Who Invented Christmas, Plummer told a Vanity Fair correspondent that the All The Money In the World shoot would begin on Monday, 11.20, and continue for roughly 10 days. I presume that means 10 days straight — who would even consider weekends off with this kind of pressure-cooker situation?
The fact that Scott was pretty much forced into re-casting Spacey’s part as J. Paul Getty while at the same time having to stick to the original 12.22 release date ** is secondary. The point is that Scott became a kind of Charles Lightoller figure after a Spacey torpedo tore into the hull of his ship. Was it Fredrick Neitzche who said “when in danger always move forward,” or did Nick Nolte‘s Ray Hicks character make that up on the spur? Scott decided within hours that he had to become an extraordinary general — re-cast, re-group, fly his troops to Rome and Jordan, finesse the problem, and then fly back to Los Angeles like Odysseus returning to Penelope.
If Scott isn’t nominated for Best Director, the Academy should give him a special Oscar for performing such a herculean feat under the gun, and at age 79 yet. (He turns 80 on 11.30.17.)
I was told the other night by a producer acquaintance that the Christoper Plummer re-shoot and re-edit will cost $8 million and change.
I was also told that in preparing the final edit Scott was forced to cut two scenes that featured costar Mark Wahlberg. Wahlberg was unhappy that these scenes were edited out, I’m told, so when he was approached about re-shooting his scenes with Plummer’s J. Paul Getty one of his terms was that the the scenes would be re-inserted. Scott allegedly agreed. I’ve no idea if this story is true or not. It seems odd that Scott would go back on a creative decision in order to please one of his lead actors. I’m just throwing it out there because a guy associated with a reputable film told me that it happened, based on the word of a right guy. Take that with a grain.
** Scott’s hand was forced due to the 10-episode FX series Trust, which tells the same story of John Paul Getty III’s kidnapping in 1973 and the initial refusal of his grandfather (played in this instance by Donald Sutherland) to pay the ransom, set to begin airing in January ’18. Trust is being exec produced by Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy and Christian Colson.
