Trivia / All the Money in the World

• Acclaimed Flop: All the Money in the World was mostly well-received by critics and Christopher Plummer got an Oscar nomination, but the film bombed at the box office due to Kevin Spacey still being inescapable in the minds of most movie-goers even after the edits.
• Author's Saving Throw: Pulled off in record time: When the sexual assault allegations against original Getty actor Kevin Spacey came out, Ridley Scott cut Spacey out of the movie and reshot all his scenes with Christopher Plummer (his original choice to play the role) only a month before the film's scheduled release date. Considering that the finished film, and Plummer's performance in particular, has received rave reviews from critics (with Plummer being Scott's original choice for the role to begin with before Executive Meddling made him go with Spacey), it's safe to say that this paid off quite nicely for everyone involved.
• Bury Your Art: Just before the film was due for release, Kevin Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct by several men, leading director Ridley Scott to reshoot all of Spacey's scenes with Christopher Plummer (his original choice to play the role) in his place. Scott went on record stating that the Spacey cut will likely never be released as a result.
• Cast the Expert: Plummer met Getty in real life and based his performance on first-person knowledge.
• Dawson Casting: Flip-flopped when 87-year-old Christopher Plummer was called in to replace 58-year-old Kevin Spacey, whose character was 80 years old at the time the movie took place.
• Dueling Works: A reason why the movie couldn't simply be delayed until the Spacey scandal blew over was that a TV adaptation of the kidnapping, Trust, starring Donald Sutherland as Getty, Hilary Swank as Gail, and Brendan Fraser as Chace, was scheduled to be released on January 2018. Eventually, it was Trust that was delayed to March.
• Executive Meddling: One of the all time huge backfires of it, as Christopher Plummer had been Ridley Scott’s preferred choice to play Getty, but the studio allegedly insisted on Kevin Spacey (though see Flip-Flop of God). And then multiple sexual abuse allegations led to Spacey being Other Martied in favor of Plummer, resulting in a ton of extra trouble and budget hikes just to end up with what they could have had all along.
• Fake American: Christopher Plummer was Canadian.
• Fake Nationality: Romain Duris (Cinquanta) is French.
• Flip-Flop of God:
  • On whether or not the footage of Spacey's scenes will be released. Scott has said in some interviews that they'll never be released but in others, he's talked about the idea of releasing them in the future (but not for a while now, for obvious reasons).
  • In early interviews, Scott stated he'd envisioned Spacey for the role of Getty from the moment he read the script. After the casting change, Scott then claimed Plummer had always been his first choice, but Executive Meddling forced him to cast the "bigger-name" Spacey instead.
• The Other Marty: One of the most audacious examples in film history. Originally, Kevin Spacey played the role of J. Paul Getty and a major Oscar campaign was planned for his performance. Then, after there were multiple accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct against Spacey, Ridley Scott took the unprecedented step of cutting Spacey from the movie entirely and reshooting all of his scenes with Christopher Plummer, (who was Scott's original choice to play the role in the first place), within weeks of the film's release date. Not only did Scott and Plummer manage to pull it off, they both ended up receiving Golden Globe nominations (as well as an Oscar nomination, in Plummer's case) for good measure.^note Spacey can be seen in exactly one shot of the film — a distant shot of Getty disembarking from a train, which then switches to Plummer via greenscreen for closeups. A bust of Getty modeled on Spacey's head is also occasionally visible in the final scene.
• Release Date Change: Downplayed, but due to the reshoots, the film's initial release date was swapped around from the 8th of December to the 22nd before finally settling on Christmas Day.
• Troubled Production: An example where the production was already done. The film had the misfortune of being Kevin Spacey's next film immediately after a wave of allegations of molesting young men for a long time became public. Just seven weeks before its release date, Christopher Plummer (Scott's originally preferred choice for the role) was brought in to take over his role, requiring bringing back all the cast and crew members involved in every one of his scenes under severe time constraints. Thankfully, the reshoots were finished in just 8 days, managing to make its December 25th release date. However, controversies surrounding the film didn't end there when the outrageous pay gap between Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams ($1.5 million for Wahlberg as opposed to $800 in per diems for Williams) for the reshoots were publicized. Williams later made a comment that she wasn't really bothered by this^note She could have easily made the same demands given how quickly the negotiations needed to be wrapped up, but chose not to. while Wahlberg later donated his pay to the #MeToo movement. But the damage was done at this point, and Scott was reportedly furious by Wahlberg's actions.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Angelina Jolie was approached first to play Gail, but she declined. Natalie Portman was cast next, but she dropped out due to her pregnancy.
  • Obviously, we could have gotten the cut with Kevin Spacey as Getty. Ironically the film itself is a "what could have been" as well, since Plummer was who Scott wanted to cast in the first place before Spacey got the part.
    • Besides the distracting makeup, Spacey played Getty as a more obvious scrooge: dour, rough, and hoarse. While Plummer chose to portray Getty as charming and avuncular in public, but ruthless behind closed doors. Reportedly, Plummer based his performance on the impression he got from the real Getty when he met him at a party.
  • Jack Nicholson was offered the role of Getty and he declined (he has not appeared in a film since 2010). Gary Oldman was also considered but he opted to star in Darkest Hour instead.

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