14 DAY TRIAL // Say it isn’t so! The most promising cast for a superhero / villain film is no longer as appealing as it was: Tom Hardy was confirmed for the role of Rick Flagg in DC Comics’ “Suicide Squad” movie last month, but The Hollywood Reporter confirms he’s no longer on board.
Rick Flagg is the leader of a group of villains released from prison and used by the government to carry out dangerous missions, and Hardy’s fans (and the critics too) would have loved to see him on his second foray in the world of comic book-based movies, after doing such an amazing job on Bane in the third Batman installment “The Dark Knight Rises.”
An impossibility
Hardy can carry off physical roles (but not only) with such ease and sense of danger that he’s being praised by fans and critics as one of the best actors of his generation. His addition to an already impressive cast consisting of Jared Leto, Margot Robbie and Will Smith (and Jai Courtney and Cara Delevingne, but they’re yet to prove themselves on film) was deemed “just perfect.”
THR is now saying that, upon due consideration, Hardy has decided that it would be impossible for him to shoot the film and be part of the promo tour, as all actors are bound by contract to do these days, because his schedule is already packed.
So it’s not like he’s having second thoughts about the film or fearing that he might become typecast if he did another superhero film, as some voices online suggested: he simply does not have the time to do it now.
THR mentions the fact that he’s now shooting “The Revenant” from director Alejandro G. Inarritu (“Birdman”), opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, and that production on it will take longer than initially estimated.
He’ll also have one of the most anticipated movies of the year coming out this spring, “Mad Max: Fury Road,” and that means doing a lot of press for it, both domestically and overseas.
In the end, he probably realized that he’d have to make too many adjustments to be able to shoot “Suicide Squad” and the studio understood it too would have to switch things a lot around to fit him in the production schedule. Parting ways was deemed the better choice.
Replacement is already in place
Hardy’s departure isn’t expected to cause any delay to the film, because the studio already has a replacement in mind, and yes, he too is a critics’ favorite: Jake Gyllenhaal, whose stellar turn in “Nightcrawler” earned rave reviews but didn’t get him an Oscar nomination.
THR says he’s already been made an offer and hints that he might even accept it, having worked with screenwriter / director David Ayer on “End of Watch,” Ayer’s best film so far (“Fury” included). However, there might be a scheduling conflict with Jake too, if he takes up on that offer: he’s now doing a Broadway play and there might not be “enough prep time or down time for a prolonged shoot” for him once it wraps in March.
“Suicide Squad” will be released in 2016 in both 3D and 2D.