"Suicide Squad" has lost its first team member three months before filming begins.
Tom Hardy has dropped out of the comic book movie comprised of DC's greatest villains-turned-heroes, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Hardy leaves a stellar cast assembled for the Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment film including Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Cara Delevingne and Jai Courtney.
"The Dark Knight Rises" star was set to play Rick Flag, the leader of the squad that consists of Deadshot (Smith), the Joker (Leto), Harley Quinn (Robbie), Boomerang (Courtney) and Enchantress (Delevigne). The anti-hero team performs high-risk, covert operations in exchange for commuted prison sentences.
Viola Davis will join the cast as Amanda Waller, the former congressional aide and government agent placed in charge of the unruly crew, if she can work it out with her shooting schedule on ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder."
Hardy and the studio gave no immediate reason of why the actor had to leave the project, but scheduling was probably the culprit, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He's currently filming "The Revenant" with Leonardo DiCaprio and Oscar-nominated director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu," and the shoot has been extended beyond the originally planned schedule
The 37-year-old actor has to start promoting his upcoming film Mad Max: Fury Road a few weeks before it premieres on May 15. Filming for "Suicide" will start around the same time with cast and crew assembling in Toronto in mid-April.
"Suicide Squad" is scheduled to open in theaters on Aug. 5, 2016.
