How The Post and All the Money in the World beat Oscars deadline with days to spare
Steven Spielberg’s Pentagon Papers film and Ridley Scott’s drama about John Paul Getty III’s kidnapping were racing the clock to make December cinematic debuts, but both directors excel at multi-tasking and work ‘like lightning’
Oscar-winning film editor Claire Simpson had a heavy heart as she finished working on All the Money in the World. One of the film’s stars, Kevin Spacey, had just been accused of sexual misconduct with minors, and in short order Netflix had very publicly withdrawn support of its House of Cards hit maker. It looked as though the film might get shelved – the same fate of accused harasser Louis C.K.’s I Love You, Daddy.
At that point, Simpson had about two days of finishing touches left, then director Ridley Scott was scheduled to give his approval. Instead, he called to say he wasn’t coming. He had to dash off to New York, he explained, though he couldn’t tell her why just yet.
“I knew he had a plan afoot, and this would be big,” Simpson said. “Because Ridley doesn’t do small.”
Tom Hanks probably would not go to a White House screening of The Post, his new film about Pentagon Papers saga
He certainly doesn’t: his secret mission involved recruiting Christopher Plummer to replace Spacey in the role of billionaire J. Paul Getty, which would mean reshooting every scene that had featured the disgraced actor. The catch? Scott still planned to release the film in the United States on December 22. That gave the director, his cast and crew about six weeks to make extensive changes.
In fact, All the Money will debut on December 25 – still close enough for awards consideration – and it’s not the only movie that is rushing to cinemas at the end of a mad dash. Steven Spielberg’s The Post also came together on an astoundingly abbreviated schedule, debuting on Friday, about nine months after the director decided he had to make the historical drama about the publication of the Pentagon Papers.
