When the cast for SUICIDE SQUAD was revealed back in December, David Ayer's DC Comics adaptation instantly because big news thanks to the sheer starpower on display. With Tom Hardy, Jared Leto, and Will Smith at the forefront, SUICIDE SQUAD looked like a big win for Warner Bros. Then, just a couple of weeks ago, Tom Hardy dropped out of the project and replacement Jake Gyllenhaal passed on the role of Rick Flag. Obviously red alerts went up all over the Internet.
With their sexy thriller FOCUS set to open this month, Will Smith and Margot Robbie, co-stars in SUICIDE SQUAD as Deadshot and Harley Quinn respectively, we asked by USA Today what happened with Hardy and the state of the Rick Flag role.
Here's what Smith had to say.
"[David Ayer] turned the screenplay in before Christmas. What happens is Hollywood shuts down. But he was still working and he wanted to (start shooting) April 13th. So it takes a couple weeks to gear back up at the top of the year and people have taken (other) movies. He's moving really quickly."
Margot Robbie offered this up as well.
"It's almost impossible to get a movie all together when there are two main cast members, let alone an ensemble cast with everyone's schedules. It's crazy if it works out."
Some theorize that the Rick Flag role may have been larger when Hardy accepted it and when Smith signed up, his role was reduced. Or, it could just be the sheer magnitude of juggling all of these high profile stars in a single film could not be accomplished. Hopefully we get official word soon on who will play Flag, but from the looks of it, Ayer is ready to get rolling on this film as soon as the pieces are in place.
SUICIDE SQUAD hits theaters on August 5, 2016.