All the Money in the World Moves to Christmas Day

Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World has moved its release date back three days to Christmas Day. The director’s latest was originally scheduled for December 22, but encountered unprecedented difficulties in removing ex-star Kevin Spacey from the film due to his numerous accusations of sexual misconduct. Somehow, Scott managed to pull off re-shoots and nearly kept the film on track for its original release date in the U.S.

All the Money in the World depicts the true story of the infamous 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, grandson of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. Kevin Spacey originally portrayed the latter, but Scott was forced to recast the key role with Christopher Plummer and re-shoot his scenes without pushing back the film’s release. It won’t come out at its originally scheduled time, but Scott sure came close to pulling it off.

Deadline first reported All the Money in the World’s new release date on Wednesday, detailing Sony’s multiple reasons for making the move – which were not related to Scott’s ability to finish the film on time. Christmas is the biggest moviegoing day of the year, giving it plenty of exposure as a fresh release, and it is also being moved farther away from the December 20 release date of Hugh Jackman’s P.T. Barnum biopic The Greatest Showman.

Scott managed to accomplish re-shoots involving Plummer with fellow stars Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams over Thanksgiving week, according to Deadline. Scott reportedly finalized All the Money in the World just before his 80th birthday on November 30. He was also able to screen it on time for the Hollywood Foreign Press in hopes of landing Golden Globes nominations, though Sony was forced to scrap the movie’s Oscar campaign.

The fact that the film got pushed back to a big day for theatergoers could be a promising sign for it, despite the turmoil it went through having to re-shoot J. Paul Getty’s scenes at the last minute. It’s likely going to be the only film getting a nationwide release on Christmas Day, barring any other last-minute changes. The idea of a major character being totally redone in the final months before its release does make it intriguing to see how the movie turned out.

All the Money in the World certainly won’t be without competition when it comes out on Christmas, which falls on a Monday this year. Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be coming off just its second weekend in theaters, while Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Pitch Perfect 3 will have been freshly released on Dec. 22. Sony is betting big that Scott didn’t need extra time to finish the film with Getty’s role recast, and it’s impressive enough that he was able to deliver a finished product on schedule.

KEY RELEASE DATES
All the Money in the World release date: Dec 25, 2017