10 Actors Who Just Quit Huge Movies

Blood on Snow is an upcoming adaptation of Jo Nesbø's 2015 crime thriller novel of the same name, with Nesbø translating his own source into a screenplay, while Cary Joji Fukunaga (No Time to Die) directs.

Tom Hardy was initially set to star as one of the film's primary mob moss antagonists, known as The Fisherman, who was set to face off against Aaron Taylor-Johnson's protagonist Olav.

However back in February, just as shooting was set to begin, Hardy departed the film due to - wait for it - unspecified scheduling conflicts. 

Given that Benedict Cumberbatch was immediately announced as his replacement, it's likely that Hardy actually exited the film much earlier than this, but the announcement was held back until the production had secured a new actor.

It's easy to see how Hardy would bring a singular intensity to the role of a mob boss in a gritty crime thriller, while Cumberbatch's general vibe as an actor will likely make his rendition of The Fisherman quite different indeed. 

He's hardly the first actor you'd expect to sub in for Hardy, but it's an intriguing choice all the same.