Sgt Rock, from Luca Guadagnino, is set to shoot the summer. Daniel Craig’s departure has now left it without a leading man.
According to a new report this morning, Daniel Craig has suddenly departed Luca Guadagnino’s Sgt Rock project in the midst of pre-production. Craig’s exit leaves the film without a star to take on the role of of the title character, with the production set to go before cameras this summer.
The news comes via The Hollywood Reporter, with the outlet adding that no reason has been given for Daniel Craig’s sudden departure. It does state that ‘scheduling of both himself and his wife Rachel Weisz appears to be one of the causes’ while alternative sources in the story claim that Craig ‘soured on the role’ after Queer, his recent collaboration with Guadagnino, didn’t turn into a critically-garlanded success.
We may never know why Craig has decided not to don the battered tin helmet and loop a couple of ammo belts over his shoulders to play the grizzled and combat-hardened WWII soldier, but we do know that it’s a mighty loss for the project. From James Bond to Benoit Blanc to Joe Bang in Logan Lucky, there’s something wonderfully unorthodox about Craig’s attitude to character building, and what’s more, he’s usually brilliant at judging just how much subversiveness to build into his leading men.
Read more: Queer review | A tequila-soaked tale of obsession
Ironically, his take on the most subversive of all of his characters, American counter-cultural icon William Burroughs in last year’s Queer, was perhaps one role where the blending of such a style didn’t fully mesh. While Craig’s performance was typically absorbing, the film itself didn’t fully work, and that was reflected in its absence from most awards shows and wider conversations about the best films of last year.
According to THR’s report, Jeremy Allen White – star of TV’s The Bear and pro wrestling drama, The Iron Claw – is one possible name in the frame to take on the lead role in Sgt Rock. Given the talent Luca Guadagnino is usually able to surround himself with, we’re sure that he’ll be able to tempt an exciting name to the project, although whether that means a delay for the production remains to be seen.
Craig now joins Arnold Schwarzenegger in the list of actors who almost played the DC Comics combat veteran but never quite got there. It took a long, long time to find out that Schwarzenegger and his Predator director John McTiernan couldn’t get their take off the ground because John Cleese passed on the project.
We’ll bring you more on the search for a new Sgt Rock as it develops.
