Article content
Disgraced star Liam Neeson faces being erased from his latest film, Men In Black: International, according to RadarOnline.com.
Fans outraged by his admission he once stalked the streets with a bat hell-bent on killing any “black bastard” are calling for his scenes in the big-budget sci-fi flick to be cut.
They also want the star to be replaced in the film in the same way Kevin Spacey was cut from Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World in the wake of his alleged sex abuse scandal.
And the fans’ demands have sent Hollywood bosses into meltdown over fears the flick – now in post-production and due out in June – will be a flop.
“I guess Sony Pictures will soon be hiring Christopher Plummer to replace Liam Neeson in the upcoming Men In Black reboot?” one fan tweeted.
Article content
Another vented: “I really hope it’s not too late to digitally erase that racist f— Liam Neeson from the new Men In Black movie.”
A third fan wrote: “It’s gonna be so awkward seeing Liam Neeson in Men In Black: International.”
Neeson plays High T in the fourth instalment of Men In Black, the London-based head of an alien-hunting branch.
He appears in promotional posters for the film alongside co-stars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson – prompting scores of memes mocking Neeson’s part in the role to fill the web.
Scandal-hit Spacey, 59, was replaced by actor Christopher Plummer in frantic reshoots of All The Money In The World at a cost of an extra $1 to $10 million.
A film industry source told Radar: “The fans’ calls for Liam’s scenes to be digitally erased or cut altogether from the film will be taken seriously by the studio as they have poured millions into it and do not want it to fail at the box office.”
Advertisement 3
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“The Spacey case shows how easy it is to replace stars.”
Neeson was this week engulfed in scandal when he admitted during a promotional interview for his new revenge flick Cold Pursuit that he took a bat and walked the streets looking for a black man to slaughter after a loved one told him she had been raped.
He pulled out of appearing on the red carpet for the premiere of Cold Pursuit in the wake of being called racist over his revelation.
His absence came after attempts to explain his comments in a chat with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America were branded a “car crash.”
The 66-year-old Oscar nominee said: “I remembered an incident a few years ago where my friend was brutally raped. She handled the situation incredibly bravely and I had never felt this feeling before – it was a primal urge to lash out. After that there were some nights where I went deliberately out to black areas deliberately to be set upon so I could unleash physical violence and I did it four or five times.”
But he insisted: “I’m not racist – it was almost 40 years ago – I was brought up in Northern Ireland…There was a war going on and I had acquaintances involved… I grew up surrounded by that but I was never a part of it.”
