Movie director Ridley Scott says he is confident of finishing reshoots on “All the Money in the World” in time for its planned December release after a scramble to replace actor Kevin Spacey because of sexual misconduct allegations.
Scott told Entertainment Weekly in an on-set interview that work on the Sony Pictures movie “All the Money in the World” was near completion after a nine day emergency reshoot in Rome and London.
“They’re going to see it. I may have to do a couple of technical things to make it land completely technically, but it’s really already done… I’ve done it,” Scott said in the interview published on Wednesday.
In an extraordinary move, Scott announced on Nov. 8 that he was removing Spacey entirely from the film and reshooting his scenes with Christopher Plummer in the role of late U.S. oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty. The movie is due to open in movie theaters as scheduled on Dec. 22.
Scott’s decision followed claims of sexual misconduct against Spacey by multiple men. Spacey issued an apology for the first reported incident, involving actor Anthony Rapp. Reuters could not independently confirm the allegations.
The British film director said he decided to reshoot Spacey’s scenes because he feared the publicity would damage the film, which was seen as a potential Hollywood awards season contender.
“We cannot let one person’s actions affect the good work of all these other people,” Scott told Entertainment Weekly.
Spacey is seeking unspecified treatment and a representative did not respond to a request on Wednesday for comment.
Hollywood trade paper Variety has reported that reshoot would cost about $10 million – one quarter of the already $40 million production budget for “All the Money in the World.” Sony Pictures has declined to comment on costs.
Asked for the movie studio’s reaction to his decision, Scott replied.
“They were like, ‘You’ll never do it. God be with you,'” he laughed.
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