When you believe in your film and Ridley Scott is at the helm, you do what you need to do to get the film seen when unforeseen circumstances threaten to derail the project. In the case of All The Money In The World, it was a scandal involving Kevin Spacey, who had a pivotal supporting role in the film, that put the already finished product into a tailspin. Due to the serious nature of the allegations against Spacey, it was decided to erase him from the film and recast the role with Christopher Plummer on board to take on the role. This all went down about six weeks ago so that the film could maintain something close to its release date (the film jumped from December 22 to 25) and ensure that the film could be seen by the masses. This is a massive undertaking and certainly could be costly (which it reportedly was) but the cast lent a helping hand by doing all of their necessary reshoots for free.
The movie’s stars were more than happy to put in the work for free, as well. As reported by USA Today, the likes of Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams flew back to Europe and completed the required reshoots free of charge. “Everyone did it for nothing,” explained Ridley Scott with regards to the 22 scenes that were reshot. “They all came in for free.”
The reshoots were not entirely free, of course, with the film’s crew paid alongside Christopher Plummer who was brought in to replace Spacey. However, it appears as though the drive to try and salvage the film in the face of the sexual assault allegations far outweighed any financial motive, and that came from the film’s stars as much as its director.
Michelle Williams, who plays Gail Harris in the movie and gave up her Thanksgiving break to do the additional shooting, had this to say about the experience:
“I just thought that this experience that we had all treasured was going to be essentially flushed down the toilet.I said I’d be wherever they needed me, whenever they needed me. And they could have my salary, they could have my holiday, whatever they wanted. Because I appreciated so much that they were making this massive effort.”
All the Money in the World tells the true story of the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty’s grandson in Rome. Williams plays the boy’s mother, while Plummer takes on the role of John Paul Getty himself. Mark Wahlberg plays ex-CIA operative Fletcher Chase, who is sent to Rome to oversee the investigation.
This whole undertaking has actually really been a positive one to write about as a fan of films. Seeing so many people come together to make this work so that they work of countless others isn’t squandered because of the wrongdoings of one man, is actually pretty inspiring to see. Off the back of these reshoots, the film has received Golden Globe nominations (Best Actress For Michelle Williams, Best Director for Ridley Scott & Best Supporting Actor For Christopher Plummer) and is getting rave notices from critics (it’s currently 88% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing). Williams, and especially Plummer, are getting great kudos for their work here and that’s even more incredible for the 88-year-old vet who came in merely six weeks ago to take on this role. Good work definitely pays off and I know I’m definitely excited to see this when it opens on Christmas Day.
