Xavier Dolan Cuts Jessica Chastain From ‘John F. Donovan,’ Says First Cut Was 4 Hours

It might’ve been Super Bowl Sunday for everybody else, but this weekend was a period of reflection for Xavier Dolan. The filmmaker is still busy getting his upcoming and highly anticipated “The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan” into shape, but unfortunately, one of the key names of the star-studded cast has been cut from the film.

Dolan hit Instagram to reveal that Jessica Chastain has been removed from ‘Donovan.’ Starring Kit Harington, Taylor Kitsch, Kathy Bates, Jacob Tremblay, Susan Sarandon, Natalie Portman, Nicholas Hoult, and Thandie Newton, the movie centers on the tribulations of John Donovan, an American TV star in his late 20s, and his correspondence with Rupert Turner, a young actor-to-be living with his mother in England. Their lives take dramatic turns when the existence of their pen-pal relationship is publicly exposed, eliciting the most ill-founded assumptions and sending Donovan in a vertical downfall. A decade later, the young actor recollects his relationship with his past idol over the course of an interview.

Chastain had been cast in the role of an editor-in-chief of a gossip magazine, with Dolan previously describing the part as “a mega tricky villain” with the actress playing a “full-on bitch.” However, according to the director, Chastain’s role simply doesn’t fit into the current vision for the movie. Dolan has recently spoken about the evolution of the movie, noting that now it’s “more of an homage to the family dramas of the ’90s rather than a profound reflection on what it is to be gay.”

It all sounds like Dolan is honing his ambitions with this film, as he notes that the first cut of ‘Donovan’ ran four hours long. There’s still no word on a release date, but it does sound like he’s nearing the finish the line, and a premiere could be coming. Could he be back at Cannes this spring?