Kevin Spacey-starring Billionaire Boys Club to hit theaters in August

Kevin Spacey will be back on the big screen this summer. Billionaire Boys Club, in which the embattled actor has a supporting role, has been scheduled to hit theaters in August.

According to distributor Vertical Entertainment, the drama will be released digitally and on VOD on July 17, followed by a limited theatrical run beginning Aug. 17.

Billionaire Boys Club will mark Spacey’s first major screen appearance since allegations emerged last fall that he made unwanted sexual advances toward young male actors and created a “toxic” work environment.

In a statement to EW, Vertical said, “We hope these distressing allegations pertaining to one person’s behavior — that were not publicly known when the film was made almost 2.5 years ago and from someone who has a small, supporting role in Billionaire Boys Club — does not tarnish the release of the film.”

The statement continued, “We don’t condone sexual harassment on any level and we fully support victims of it. At the same time, this is neither an easy nor insensitive decision to release this film in theaters, but we believe in giving the cast, as well as hundreds of crew members who worked hard on the film, the chance to see their final product reach audiences. In the end, we hope audiences make up their own minds as to the reprehensible allegations of one person’s past, but not at the expense of the entire cast and crew’s present on this film.”

Ansel Elgort, Taron Egerton, Emma Roberts, and Billie Lourd co-star in the ’80s-set film, which is based on a true story and follows a group of private-school boys in Los Angeles who set up a Ponzi scheme. The scheme takes a dark turn when two of the boys murder an investor and con man, played by Spacey. James Cox co-wrote and directed the film.

Requests for comment from Elgort, Egerton, Roberts, Lourd, and Cox were not immediately answered.

Last October, Spacey released a statement addressing an allegation that he made an unwanted sexual advance toward actor Anthony Rapp years before, when Rapp was 14 years old and Spacey was 26. Spacey, now 58, said he didn’t remember the encounter and apologized “for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.” Days later, the actor said he was “taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment.”

As additional allegations of misconduct mounted, Netflix cut ties with Spacey, firing him from House of Cards and shelving the Gore Vidal biopic Gore, which had previously been touted as a potential Oscar vehicle for Spacey. Additionally, filmmaker Ridley Scott edited him out of the already-shot All the Money in the World, racing against time to sub in Christopher Plummer in for the supporting role of J. Paul Getty before sending the movie to theaters in December. (Plummer earned an Oscar nomination for the part.)

The decision to proceed with a U.S. release for Billionaire Boys Club comes on the heels of an international trailer that positioned Elgort and Egerton as the film’s two leads. Spacey is however featured in multiple scenes, sporting a beard to play the ill-fated Beverly Hills high-roller Ron Levin.

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