Vincent Cassel Replaces Philip Seymour Hoffman In ‘Child 44’

Vincent Cassel has replaced Philip Seymour Hoffman in Child 44.

The Daniel Espinosa-directed film is adapted from Tom Rob Smith’s best-selling thriller novel of the same name, the first in a trilogy.

Child 44 revolves around a military cop investigating a series of child murders in 1950s Stalinist Russia. The film also stars Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman, and Gary Oldman. The movie has been filming since June in Prague, and is scheduled to be released in late 2014.

Earlier this week, Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci announced that they were divorcing after almost 15 years of marriage. The couple met on the set of the 1996 film L’Appartement, and were married in 1999. They have two daughters together, Deva and Léonie.

A representative for the actors confirmed that the decision to divorce was a mutual agreement. While they only recently announced their divorce, they have reportedly been living separately for years. Bellucci lives in Rome while Cassel spends most of his time in Paris.

Bellucci previously hinted at the split, telling Grazia magazine in April, “Marriage, we never know how long it will last…Today, it works, but in a year, I don’t know.”

The 48-year-old Passion of the Christ star also told Vanity Fair in February, “We are very independent, we live in different worlds: His friends are your friends, mine are different.”

Around the same time, 46-year-old Cassel said, “My wife and me are different animals. This is probably the key to our relationship after 18 years together. We don’t seek other people’s approval.”

Vincent Cassel is best known to English-speaking audiences for his roles in Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen, as well as his role as ballet director Thomas Leroy in Black Swan. The French-born actor also recently starred in Danny Boyle’s psychologic thriller Trance opposite James McAvoy and Rosario Dawson.

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