Henry Cavill: ‘Stratton’ Leading Man Abruptly Walks Off Set Days Before Filming Set To Begin

Henry Cavill has abruptly pulled out of the upcoming thriller Stratton just days before filming was set to begin, Star Pulse is reporting.

Citing “creative differences” — the standard film industry bugaboo for when an actor walks off set — the British actor left the production company scrambling to find a new leading man.

GFM Films, the production company behind the planned Stratton franchise, issued a statement, via Variety, announcing Henry Cavill’s departure.

“It is with great regret that we announce that Henry Cavill has pulled out of Stratton due to creative differences on the script of the movie. With production due to commence next week, we wish to keep the production team together and Simon West as director so are working now to replace Henry. Production will be delayed whilst we do this. Further announcements will be made in due course.”

Cavill, best known in the U.S. for his role as Superman in 2013’s Man of Steel, has become a bankable star in Hollywood. The British actor leveraged his considerable star power to line up support for Stratton, based on the series of novels by Duncan Falconer.

The thriller novels follow a British special agent tracking down terrorists and were written under a pen name by an anonymous person who claims to have himself been an agent in the Special Boat Service (SBS) — sort of the British Equivalent of the Navy S.E.A.L.S.

Speaking earlier this year, Cavill praised the novels, saying that the stories of the SBS need to be told.

“I’ve long wanted to tell a story about the British Special Forces, and finally the opportunity has come around. Duncan Falconer’s work is fantastic, and we are incredibly fortunate to be working with him so closely. We plan to convert the books to cinema as accurately as possible while keeping them topical. [Director] Simon West is a perfect match for this movie with his ability to marry storytelling and action, both of which are essential to do this project justice.”

However, production delays dogged the film, and tweaks to the script left Cavill, the star, frustrated. Speaking to Screen Daily, GFM co-founder Guy Collins explained that Cavill wanted Stratton done his way, or he was out.

“[Cavill] told us he has decided not to shoot this script at this time. He had a different vision of what the film should be to us and the production team and wanted to delay production until September and shoot a different story and script.”

As of this post, Stratton producers have not publicly discussed who might be in the running to replace Henry Cavill.

[Image courtesy of: Getty Images/Ian Walton]