This week, Jason Statham departed WME and The Man From Toronto with Kevin Hart weeks before production began. Career clearance sale!

What’s happening? Jason Statham and Kevin Hart were set to star in the action comedy The Man From Toronto, which began production in 4-6 weeks. Sony wants to keep Kevin Hart in the movie, so it’s calling an unnamed actor it hopes to sign swiftly, according to Deadline.

The Toronto Man must be replaced. Jason Statham was cast as the world’s deadliest assassin, who teamed up with Kevin Hart. They’re mistaken for each other in a rented Airbnb.

Why did Statham quit? Deadline sources said the actor clashed with the company over creative issues, including requesting a R rating. A PG-13 rating was preferred by Sony for a November Thanksgiving release. (You’ll recall Jason Statham’s harsh comments regarding Meg’s PG-13 rating instead of the bloodier R-rated version he wanted.)

After leaving The Man From Toronto, Jason Statham quit WME. According to Deadline, WME and Statham made the decision together, which is surprising because WME signed him from CAA last year.

After Cash Truck, the Guy Ritchie feature that began filming in November, Jason Statham was scheduled to film The Man From Toronto. Now what? We’ll see.

Jason Statham and Kevin Hart would have reunited in The Man From Toronto after Hart’s surprising performance in Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. Hart is back at work following his terrible automobile accident, and this movie should be on his schedule if Sony can find a replacement quickly. I nominate Dwayne Johnson, although he may be occupied with Netflix’s Red Notice, his new film with Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds. You never know with The Rock, who likes action comedies with Kevin Hart and can do nine million things at once.

After replacing Channing Tatum, Kevin Hart will star in Fatherhood in January 2021. Tatum could complete this by replacing Jason Statham, but that’s not a matched replacement.

We’ll see whether The Man From Toronto releases on November 20, 2020. I would relocate Kevin Hart’s action comedy since No Time to Die just started that week, but that’s me.

The studio may have a new Jason Statham replacement, but who would you pick?