7 Darkest Reasons Actors Were Replaced In Sequels

It's not the first time an actor has been replaced in part, either because they declined to appear in subsequent films or because they weren't asked to return. The term "scheduling problems" is commonly used as a euphemism between actors and studios when the real reason is not immediately apparent. However, once an economically reasonable amount of time has passed, one or both parties may discuss the matter.

1. Ed Norton

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Marvel Studios and Norton, who helped revise the script, fell out over the 2008 film. Norton barely promoted The Incredible Hulk, reportedly because he disagreed with Marvel's strategy. "It hasn't panned out as we had thought," he remarked on Facebook when Mark Ruffalo replaced him in 2012's Avengers. By 2014, he told NPR that he "truly, really enjoyed" working on the film but "wanted more diversity" in his career (a definite possibility – just ask Robert Downey Jr).

2. Jodie Foster

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Even though her co-star Anthony Hopkins had agreed to return and famed director Ridley Scott was on board for the sequel Hannibal, Foster herself decided not to return after earning an Oscar for her performance in The Silence of the Lambs. Julianne Moore took over for Foster in the role. Hearsay has it that she was dissatisfied with the storyline because Clarice engaged in cannibalism herself (as she does in the book). Though she was speaking to Total Film, she was more guarded.

3. Crispin Glover

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In the first film, Glover played George McFly, Marty's father, but in the sequel, Jeffrey Weissman took up the role. Glover claims that he didn't want to do the sequel because the money wasn't right, but also for moral reasons because he and co-writer/co-producer Bob Gale had a falling out over Glover's objections to the film's ending, which suggests that the McFly parents are much happier and more in love when they are richer.

4. Rachel Weisz

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Since Rachel Weisz had no interest in playing Evie in a third Mummy film, Maria Bello was cast in the role. It's not apparent why she stopped attending classes. Reports vary as to why Weisz decided not to continue filming the movie; some say she didn't want to spend five months away from her family in China, while others say she didn't want to play the mother of a 21-year-old.

5 Katie Holmes

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Holmes turned down Nolan to reprise her part as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight, despite the fact that Nolan is one of the hottest directors working today and Holmes is most recognized for her marriage to Tom Cruise and her appearances on Dawson's Creek. "Katie wasn't available for the role, which I wasn't very thrilled about, but these things happen, and I was very, very fortunate that Maggie [Gyllenhaal] was able to take it over," Nolan told Alloy of Gyllenhaal.
Holmes gave the excuse of schedule issues, but the real reason for his withdrawal is still unknown [insert your own conspiracy theory here]. In a recent interview with Business Insider, though, she defended her choice.

6. Terrence Howard

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The first Iron Man was a risky project: a virtually unknown superhero played by a non-banker, establishing a gigantic shared universe we hadn't seen before. Successful. After the first film's success, Terrence Howard claims producers asked him to take a huge pay cut for the sequel because they thought it would succeed without him. They were right, and Don Cheadle has played Rhodey since.
Howard blamed Robert Downey Jr. for "taking the money that was meant to go to me and pushed me out". Eeps. "We just recognized that life is too short," Howard said after reconciling in 2017.

7. Rachelle Lefevre

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After playing the vampire Victoria in Twilight and New Moon, Rachelle Lefevre was replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard in Eclipse's third film. Lefevre claims that she was forced into the arrangement and was not thrilled about it.
"I was entirely dedicated to the Twilight saga and to the character of Victoria," she said to Access Hollywood. Despite being offered other film roles, I declined them all in order to exercise my contractual right to only accept jobs with extremely brief production timetables.
Summit responded by saying the company "acted in good faith that [Lefevre] would be available to fulfill her obligations both in terms of rehearsals and shooting availability for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," but "the fact remains that Ms. Lefevre's commitment to the other project... makes her unfortunately unavailable to perform the role of Victoria."