According to The Wrap, Mad Max: Fury Road star Tom Hardy was forced to depart the Warner Bros. project due to scheduling conflicts. Filming on Hardy’s current project, Birdman director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s upcoming film The Revenant, has gone over its expected shooting time, and the actor is then committed to begin promotion on Mad Max: Fury Road shortly thereafter.
The situation isn’t especially dire for Suicide Squad, though, as the studio is reportedly in discussions with Jake Gyllenhaal to replace Hardy in the cast as the DC Comics character Rick Flagg.
Neither the studio nor representatives for Gyllenhaal or Hardy have publicly commented on the situation yet, so these reports remain unofficial until we hear otherwise.
Whoever replaces Hardy will join Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Cara Delevigne, and Jared Leto in the confirmed cast for the film, which follows a group of criminals forced to undertake a dangerous mission for the government in order to earn a pardon for their crimes. Viola Davis and Jesse Eisenberg are also rumored for roles, with Eisenberg potentially reprising the role of Lex Luthor that he’ll play in Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice.
Suicide Squad is expected to begin filming in April, with a scheduled release date of August 5, 2016.
