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Luke M wrote:Yup. I think this will be easier than people are claiming. If it were difficult I doubt Scott would be doing it.

Absolutely. It helps if they're just replacing Spacey and nothing more - that is, the cut is set, and they don't have to fiddle with any structural editing, just swapping out shots to replace an actor. Shooting would also go faster because they'd have an exact blueprint to follow. There'd be no need for coverage or anything like that. And I'm sure in some cases, green screen may suffice.

Eric Stoltz was replaced shortly after production began on Back to the Future. From what I understand Spacey only filmed for a little over a week so this isn't unfeasible. I mean it's unprecedented but it's not several months of material that Scott has to cram in.

Oh, and the fact that it's Plummer is rather amusing - I think Spacey's first "major" acting role in life was in his high school production of The Sound of Music, where he played Captain Von Trapp.

Someday, this will all be a major studio film, no doubt about it.

Curren spin going around Twitter is that Scott wanted Plummer from the outset but Sony forced him into Spacey for the box office draw.

If true this is all worth it just for that irony.

mfunk9786 wrote:When is the most recent example of something like this occurring on this scale? Back to the Future? There Will Be Blood? Not even sure if either of those were this much of a last chance high wire act.

Actually, I'm thinking that Solo - A Star Wars Story fits the bill, especially with Michael Kenneth Williams being replaced after completing the filming of his role.

There's also Eyes Wide Shut losing Harvey Keitel and Jennifer Jason Leigh well into production - in both cases, I believe their parts had been substantially or completely filmed.

MichaelB wrote:There's also Eyes Wide Shut losing Harvey Keitel and Jennifer Jason Leigh well into production - in both cases, I believe their parts had been substantially or completely filmed.

Luckily, that film had the advantage of Kubrick being able to keep filming it for approximately 23 years [estimated figure] until he felt it was finished

Not exactly the same, but it's happened several times I can think of relating to vocal performances:

Payback replaced Angie Dickinson with an actual on-screen performance by Kris Kristofferson; when the original cut was finally released, Angie Dickinson's voice was again replaced, this time with the voice of Sally Kellerman.
Her replaced Samantha Morton with Scarlett Johansson.
Phone Booth replaced Ron Eldard with Kiefer Sutherland.

Keitel was also originally cast as Willard in Apocalypse Now. He's actually in one brief moment in the film where it's just his silhouette in the sunlight.

James Remar was originally Hicks in Aliens.

Mykelti Williamson was cast at the very last minute before Heat went into production I believe. They had someone else in the part either drop out or let go, Al Pacino saw Forrest Gump and made the suggestion to Michael Mann to cast him.

Long after this film presumably comes and goes with little lasting fanfare, this will be an interesting thread to revisit for the fun, Other Lists-y discussion going on!

Before Lady Bird at the Lincoln Square on 68th and Broadway today, the trailer for this (with Spacey) ran, to much laughter by the "in-the-know" UWS audience.

The pilot episode of Game Of Thrones endured massive reshoots, including the recasting of Tamzin Merchant (Daenerys Targaryen), Jennifer Ehle (Catelyn Stark), & Ian McNeice (Illyrio Mopatis).

Two episodes of Seinfeld were redone for syndication after recastings:
-Frank Constanza (George's father) was originally played John Randolph in the character's first appearance, but after the role was recast with Jerry Stiller, they reshot the footage for that original episode and inserted it into the syndicated reruns.
-Larry David originally voiced Newman in the character's first (off-screen) appearance and after Wayne Knight was cast in the role, they had him rerecord the lines and inserted them into the syndicated reruns.

The Seinfeld DVDs allow you the option of watching either version.

PfR73 wrote:Tamzin Merchant (Daenerys Targaryen)

If she'd remained on board, she might've never gotten the enduring lead role she was always meant for - my avatar

I thought that was Toni Collette?

Peter Sellers did six weeks filming on Kiss Me, Stupid before 13 heart attacks (!) necessitated his replacement by Ray Walston.

Apparently Plummer was always Scott's first choice for the role but the studio bounced Scott into casting Spacey as he's a bigger name.

Plummer was superb in Egoyan's 'Remember'.

Stuart Townsend was one day away from shooting when fired from The Lord of the Rings; replaced by Viggo Mortensen

reaky wrote:Peter Sellers did six weeks filming on Kiss Me, Stupid before 13 heart attacks (!) necessitated his replacement by Ray Walston.

I hasn't heard about that, but Walston has the right energy for that role. Call it thirteen happy accidents

flyonthewall2983 wrote:James Remar was originally Hicks in Aliens.

He also appears in the film as a silhouette during an effects shot that was considered too expensive and time-consuming to reshoot.

Jon Finch was originally cast as Kane in Alien, but fell severely ill on his first shooting day. John Hurt was allegedly Scott's first choice for the role but he had been attached to another project.

And Richard E. Grant was originally in Alien3, but either the studio or producers insisted on Charles Dance for the role instead.

domino harvey wrote:

reaky wrote:Peter Sellers did six weeks filming on Kiss Me, Stupid before 13 heart attacks (!) necessitated his replacement by Ray Walston.

I hasn't heard about that, but Walston has the right energy for that role. Call it thirteen happy accidents

Mind you, it was originally intended for Jack Lemmon, opposite his real-life wife, Felicia Farr. And Wilder’s first picks for Polly the Pistol were Monroe, then Jayne Mansfield!

flyonthewall2983 wrote:And Richard E. Grant was originally in Alien3, but either the studio or producers insisted on Charles Dance for the role instead.

Was that in the Vincent Ward version? I would've loved to have seen that.

You mean Alien 3 was once going to have even more of the cast of Withnail & I than it already has?