All the Money in the World Won't Be Delayed

Screen Rant

Kevin Spacey's All the Money in the World Won't Be Delayed [Updated]

By Dusty Stowe

Published Nov 6, 2017

The Ridley Scott directed All the Money in the World will likely face a prolonged postponement in the wake of allegations against star Kevin Spacey.

All the Money in the World is likely facing a lengthy delay, amid mounting sexual assault allegations against star Kevin Spacey. The Ridley Scott directed film was once an Oscar hopeful for Sony, but the Spacey scandal has led the studio to rethink the film's rollout.

All the Money in the World tells the real life story of J. Paul Getty, a billionaire whose grandson was kidnapped in the '70s and ended up embroiled in a brutal standoff with the kidnappers. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Williams, and Spacey as the elder Getty, there had been early buzz that the film could be an awards season contender, primarily for Spacey's performance.

That's all changed now. Per a report from Variety, Sony is currently rethinking the film's rollout in the wake of widespread sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey. The studio has already pulled the plug on the Academy Award campaign for the film, and there is an internal debate over whether to cancel its American Film Institute premiere next week, with Scott reportedly in favor of cancelling the screening. If postponed, the film would likely be moved to June 2018.

UPDATE: Sony has now confirmed that All the Money in the World won't premiere at the AFI Film Festival, but will open in theaters in December as planned. Here is the studio's full statement:

“’All the Money in the World’ is a superb film and more than worthy of its place of honor in the AFI Fest,” the company said in a statement. “But given the current allegations surrounding one of its actors and out of respect for those impacted, it would be inappropriate to celebrate at a gala at this difficult time. Accordingly, the film will be withdrawn.

"However, a film is not the work of one person. There are over 800 other actors, writers, artists, craftspeople and crew who worked tirelessly and ethically on this film, some for years, including one of cinema’s master directors. It would be a gross injustice to punish all of them for the wrongdoings of one supporting actor in the film. Accordingly, the film will open wide as planned on December 22.”

This is far from the only consequence of the Spacey scandal. Following allegations by Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp that Spacey sexually assaulted him when he was 14 years old, Spacey issued a bizarre statement via his Twitter account where he claimed to not recall the event and came out as gay, drawing further outrage for tacitly equating homosexuality and pedophilia. Several more, astonishingly similar allegations against Spacey quickly surfaced, as well as multiple reports of harassment from the crew of Spacey's Netflix drama House of Cards.

Netflix suspended production on House of Cards' sixth season and, not long after, fired Spacey from the series and cancelled a Gore Vidal biopic he was producing with the streaming giant. House of Cards' ultimate fate is unclear at this point, though the sixth season was reportedly planned as its last.

Spacey is only the latest Hollywood power player to be brought down by allegations of widespread sexual assault. Studio executive Harvey Weinstein was ousted from his production company amid allegations of decades of horrific sexual transgressions against aspiring actresses and other industry subordinates, and director James Toback has been accused of extremely specific sexual misconduct by literally hundreds of victims. Hollywood - and society at large - is embracing a moment of transparency about abuse by powerful men, and it seems highly unlikely we've heard the last horror story from the world of entertainment.