One of the most interesting things about Warners upcoming comic book adaptation Suicide Squad was its cast, which sports some pretty big names like Will Smith and Jared Leto for a genre movie like this. Unfortunately, another big name that was initially announced for the film will not be appearing on the marquee when Suicide Squad makes it to theaters in 2016 – Tom Hardy.
Hardy was set to play Rick Flag, one of the leaders of a government black ops team of supervillains working off their sentences by going on lethally dangerous missions. Fury writer/director David Ayer will performing the same duties on this film, which is currently scheduled to start shooting mid-April.
The Hollywood Reporter is citing sources that state that the Locke actor has dropped out of the project. No definitive cause was given for his defection, but the Hollywood Reporter’s source suggests that it may be scheduling related. Hardy is currently at work on Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s frontier drama The Revenant, and production is reportedly running over schedule.
As to who may replace Hardy, the Wrap is already reporting that Ayer is eyeing his End Of Watch star Jake Gyllenhaal to step into the role. Expect an announcement soon.
Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 5, 2016.
