John Boyega has exited a Netflix movie abruptly.
Gatekeepers News reports that British-Nigerian actor, John Boyega has abruptly exited from the Netflix film Rebel Ridge just days into shooting citing “family reasons.”
John Boyega has abruptly exited from the Netflix film Rebel Ridge just days into shooting due to “family reasons,” the streamer announced Thursday.
According to reports, the filming which began on May 3 in Louisiana has been paused, as Netflix works to find a replacement for the Star Wars actor in the next few days.
A Netflix spokesperson said, “Rebel Ridge is pausing temporarily as we look to re-cast John Boyega who needed to leave the project for family reasons. We remain committed to Jeremy Saulnier’s extraordinary film and look forward to resuming production. We look forward to continuing our partnership with John Boyega’s UpperRoom Productions, in addition to our upcoming film They Cloned Tyrone in which he also stars.”
The movie which is directed by Jeremy Saulnier was expected to explore systemic injustice in the U.S. using action, suspense, and black humor.
Starring in the film is James Badge Dale, AnnaSophia Robb, James Cromwell, Emory Cohen, Don Johnson, Zsane Jhe, and Al Vicente.
The filming which was initially scheduled to begin in April 2020, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Golden Globe-winning actor is yet to publicly address his exit from the movie.
In 2015, Boyega joined the Star Wars franchise with the character Finn in The Force Awakens and reprised the role in 2017’s The Last Jedi and 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker.
He has, however, expressed his excitement about moving on in his career through his social media handle.
In July 2020, he told a fan on Instagram: “Lol no thank you. I’ve moved on” with a heart emoji to a fan who expressed their hopes for Finn’s part in the next film.
Another fan joked that Boyega “really just got those Disney bucks and dipped” alongside a crying laughing emoji, he replied: “Nope. Not into playing one role for too long. I have more to offer than that. That’s all.”
Also, Boyega, in an interview with Jake’s Takes last year, said, “I’m open to the conversation as long as it is (Kathleen Kennedy), J.J. (Abrams) and maybe someone else (on their) team.” On a possible return at the time, he answered, “(as at 2020) it’s a no-brainer.”
