It’s not often that an actor’s personal life rivals the moral shortcomings of an unsavory character he plays. But such is the case for Kevin Spacey, who portrays a con artist in the new “Billionaire Boys Club.”
In real life, Spacey is facing several sexual assault allegations — three of which surfaced recently from London, where the actor is under investigation by Scotland Yard. And it might just kill his latest film.
“I haven’t seen any advertising for this; it seems like the studio is cutting its losses,” Gavin Polone, a Hollywood producer, told The Post. “It looks like the movie is being dumped.” Indeed, the buildup to the film, which premieres on video on demand Tuesday and hits theaters Aug. 17, is all but nonexistent.
“You need to promote movies [for them to be successful],” Polone added, “and nobody is sending Kevin Spacey out to be on the ‘Today ’ show or ‘Colbert.’”
Still, Spacey is included in at least one trailer for the movie, and it’s the first we’ve seen of him in months.
Since the actor’s 2017 stint at Gentle Path at the Meadows — the Arizona sex-rehab center of choice for celebs, where a 45-day plan runs $58,000 — he’s been laying low.
“He did the best thing he could do under the circumstances: Disappear from the landscape,” said a Spacey source. “It’s difficult for him, because [show business] was his life.”
After the actor was accused last fall of harassment and assault by several men, including “Rent” actor Anthony Rapp, director Ridley Scott took the drastic measure of erasing Spacey from the film “All the Money in the World.” He then staged a re-shoot with Christopher Plummer in the role, at a reported cost of $10 million.
For “Billionaire Boys Club,” which was budgeted at $15 million, such cutting-room surgery is less viable.
Spacey is by far the biggest name in the film, which also stars young actors Ansel Elgort (“Baby Driver”) and Taron Egerton (“Kingsman”). Given that, one Hollywood publicist who specializes in crisis management said that he wouldn’t even bother with promotional interviews.
“I would advise them against doing any press for the movie,” he said, noting that the Spacey issue would suck all the air out of the room. “It won’t work to tell reporters that they can’t ask questions about Spacey. No reporters will want to do the story with that condition.”
(A representative for the film and its producers had no comment, nor did Spacey’s representative.)
So why even release the film?
‘In the short term, [Spacey] has no chance.’
Distributor Vertical Entertainment released a statement that read, in part: “This is neither an easy nor insensitive decision to release this film in theaters, but we believe in giving the cast, as well as hundreds of crew members who worked hard on the film, the chance to see their final product reach audiences.Also, said the crisis manager, “this allows them to make back at least some of the money that was put into it. This will be an interesting case to determine how much people can separate the individual actor from the performance on the screen.”
As for the future of Spacey — who last starred on Broadway in 2007 — a Broadway casting director says that stage producers may give him a second chance: “One thing you can’t take away is his talent.”
But when it comes to movies, a Hollywood producer said, “I don’t think any studios, even the ones in China” — where Spacey is hugely popular — “would be able to make Spacey an offer until all the investigations are resolved or closed. It’s impossible to [insure] a film under those circumstances, and there’s a possibility that your star might be unable to support the film’s release if he is on trial.” (Spacey has not yet been charged with a crime.)
Still, the crisis manager said there might be light at the end of the tunnel: “In the short term, [Spacey] has no chance. At some point, though, an independent production might take a chance with him. [But] I don’t see it happening anytime soon.”
