hannah kipje wrote:

---

I think we would have to know for certain that it was a conscious decision on their side to replace James by Tobey, and so far all news about it says something different. So I think it really was about James dropping out as soon as the financing fell through, because otherwise they could have had the production up and running again by now. But having to find another lead could have very well been what has slowed them down. So I think it would be weird to write a letter to them when it was indeed James and his people that made the decision.
But if - in the near future - we get a quote by James or a statement from his agency that they did swap him with Tobey against his will, I am all for writing a letter!

I understand what you're saying, Hannah, but we now have this statement from a "film insider" in the Scottish Sunday Mail:

Spiderman star replaces James McAvoy on new romcom
Jul 12 2009

Spiderman actor Tobey Maguire is to replace James McAvoy after the Scot pulled out of a movie.

Spidey star Maguire will join the cast of romantic comedy The Details.
McAvoy said he had "scheduling conflicts".

Producers believe losing Glasgow-born McAvoy, 30, may help win financial backing as Maguire is the better-known star.

A film insider said: "Maguire's a global name and it will have helped them secure the finance they couldn't get with McAvoy."

So whether he was actually pushed out or not, it's perceived within the industry that James dropping out was good for the film. That is just nuts! The sad part is that we're talking about a small-budget indie film here. If producers want bankable stars even for indie films now, that's a truly sad state of affairs. As someone on IMDb said, 'sort of defeats of purpose' of Independent film.

The other scenario that came to my mind as plausible is that they were starting to talk about making changes to the script to make it more commerical (more romcom, less black comedy) in order to secure financing and James walked. Although in that case, I think we would have heard about it.

Point taken, state. For me, it isn't even about The Details any more, but about what the current state of the film biz portends for James's immediate career plans. Don't think there's any doubt that James is less bankable than 87 other actors that scored higher on the Forbes list. Also don't think there's any doubt that he's more gifted than most of those 87. Just hate to see it all come down to who's more bankable and who has more commercial appeal. Sad state of affairs.

I'll post any further comments on the subject on the Latest News thread.