Ridley Scott Discusses Replacing Kevin Spacey in ‘All the Money in the World’ (VIDEO)

When all of the various harassment scandals began unfolding over the last few weeks, most of us assumed that the impact of these revelations wouldn't be felt for quite some time. Then it was announced that one of the embattled stars, Kevin Spacey, was being excised from the upcoming film All the Money in the World and replaced with Christopher Plummer. Plummer, by the way, makes his debut in the new trailer seen above.

The interesting thing about all of this is that it unfolded so quickly, many people thought the film was in danger of being bumped back several months to complete the work. Sony is holding firm to their conviction to get the film in theaters on December 22 as originally promised, however, and director Ridley Scott is talking about the unprecedented replacement in a new interview. 

While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Scott revealed that the reshoots were done at a cost of $10 million, or one-fourth of the entire film's original $40 million budget. And all of the preparations to do so had to be done more or less in secret...

"You have to know who you’re going to go for [to recast the role] and if he’s available. Chris [Plummer] was always on the list. So you find that out, but quietly, because you don’t want it going around. I flew into New York and met with [Plummer] and he said yes. So then we had to figure out if everyone else would be available to fit in these new days of shooting. Miraculously, they were. Before you can make the decision you have to make these quick phone calls around — not to the actors directly, but to the agents — saying there’s a possibility I may need some pickups [a.k.a. additional shooting days]. You don’t say why because of the gossip, but of course it was really for something much more significant."

When asked if he considered pushing the release of the film, he said it never crossed his mind...

"Because I know I can deliver. [Laughs] I move like lightning. I’m already two scenes ahead. It’s simple! If you know what you’re doing, you don’t need 19 takes. You do one for the actor, one for me. It’s all planned out. When you storyboard, you’ve already pre-filmed the movie in your head — the wide shots, close shots, establishing shots. You’ve gotten some of your weird ideas when you’re quietly sitting, storyboarding by yourself. After a while you learn to trust and listen to your intuition. And I listen to mine. I trust it."

So it looks like he's not sweating it any. The film is due in theaters three weeks from tomorrow, but needs to get in the hands of awards season voters before that. Let's hope they can get it done.