The strange journey of Ridley Scott’s “All The Money In The World” is one for the history books. The Sony Pictures release screened late Friday afternoon for invited members of the press and, remarkably, in the span of five weeks it somehow became one of the most anticipated films of the year. That’s what happens when a member of your cast, in this case Kevin Spacey, becomes a catalyst for the growing #MeToo movement which has not only taken the entertainment industry, but Washington and the world by storm.
“All The Money” chronicles the true story of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer), the teenage heir of the fortune of J. Paul Getty, one of the richest men in the world. The oil tycoon was a notorious cheapskate, however, and Getty III’s mother, Gail Harris (Michelle Williams), was forced to work with a security associate of the senior Getty’s (Mark Wahlberg) in an attempt to free her son without paying the ransom. The case became a tabloid sensation in the ’70s and it’s amazing it hasn’t been tackled on the big screen until now.
When Scott realized that Spacey’s public transgressions, which broke in October, could completely scuttle the release of his latest film he took matters into his own hands. On Nov. 8 he announced he would reshoot Spacey’s scenes with his first choice for the role, Christopher Plummer, and that the film would still make its intended Dec. 22 release date. Not only did Scott make a nine-day shoot in London and Rome with Plummer, Williams and Wahlberg come to pass, but he was able to deliver a rough edit for the HFPA to view before they vote for the Golden Globe nominations. A week later the Plummer, Williams and Scott were all 2018 Golden Globe nominees.
We’re currently embargoed on discussing our reactions to the final film, but Scott took a good 20 minutes after the screening to discuss what had transpired and, as always, was as blunt and frank as you’d expect an 80-year-old filmmaking legend to be. He also has a tendency to go off on historical tangents, but in his case that’s a most welcome development.
Scott on his reaction to the scandal and his frustration on never hearing from Spacey himself
“You know, I think I was born competitive. I always think about, as a film director, if the roof’s falling in, I say, ‘Well, prop it up’ or ‘Let’s move.’ I never pondered about anything. I learned that way back when, early on. And so, when I heard the bad news, I mainly thought about, ‘Okay, I want to recast this.’ I can’t sit and wait, and the worst thing about it was, it’s so brutal, I never got one call to this day from his representatives or from him. I didn’t expect it from him, but I expected it from somebody. Like someone up there at [his] agency to say, ‘Gee, that’s the way it goes, I’m sorry.’ Would’ve made my task a little bit easier, but frankly, within the hour [of the news], I said, ‘Well, how do I recast this?’
Why he recast the role
“I was thinking about Chris at the time, but then I thought, this is a difficult film in the light of ‘Star Wars’ coming out eight days before me and I know what that means. So, I saw ‘The Greatest Showman’ plus some other big star [opening that weekend]. But I’ve got to think, this is an awfully good movie, right? I know it is. So, I’ve got to push this as hard as I can because I’ve got to make hay on Christmas Day to actually get some kind of recognition about this.”