The movie “Billionaire Boys Club,” which was shot before allegations surfaced against the actor, will be released via video on demand next month and in theaters in August.
Hollywood all but banished Kevin Spacey last fall following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
But next month will mark a return to the screen of sorts for Mr. Spacey, in a new movie, “Billionaire Boys Club.”
Its distributor, Vertical Entertainment, is hoping audiences will be forgiving enough to put aside what they have recently learned about Mr. Spacey. The company said this week that it had decided to release the film, which follows a group of wealthy boys involved in a Ponzi scheme, because it was made two and a half years ago, before the allegations began surfacing last October.
“We don’t condone sexual harassment on any level and we fully support victims of it,” the company said in a statement. “At the same time, this is neither an easy nor insensitive decision to release this film in theaters, but we believe in giving the cast, as well as hundreds of crew members who worked hard on the film, the chance to see their final product reach audiences.”
In the film, Mr. Spacey stars in a supporting role as Ron Levin, a con man, alongside a cast including Ansel Elgort, Emma Roberts, Taron Egerton and Judd Nelson. He is prominent enough in the film to appear multiple times in a recent trailer. Vertical said the movie would be released via video on demand on July 17 and in theaters Aug. 17, but it did not elaborate on which streaming services or theaters would be offering the movie.
Vertical’s decision is unusual in that most of Hollywood distanced itself from Mr. Spacey after the actor Anthony Rapp accused him of trying to force himself on Mr. Rapp in the 1980s, when Mr. Rapp was 14 and Mr. Spacey 26.
A former TV anchor came forward soon after to accuse Mr. Spacey of sexually assaulting her son, and then 20 people who worked with Mr. Spacey at the Old Vic theater in London, where he was artistic director for 11 years, accused him of inappropriate behavior.
Mr. Spacey issued an apology to Mr. Rapp in which he revealed he was gay, drawing criticism from people who felt he was using his coming out as a distraction from his behavior.
Despite the fact that it cost Sony millions of dollars and put the director Ridley Scott in a time crunch, Mr. Spacey was completely cut from his supporting role in the finished movie “All the Money in the World.” Mr. Scott reshot Mr. Spacey’s role with Christopher Plummer taking his place.
Media Rights Capital, the studio behind “House of Cards,” suspended Mr. Spacey from his lead role in that political drama during production of its sixth season. And Netflix canceled the release of a Gore Vidal biopic that starred and was produced by Mr. Spacey, costing the service $38 million.
Mr. Spacey has no other coming films or shows listed on the entertainment database imdb.com. His representatives did not respond to requests for comment. The last time the actor released a statement was last November, when his publicist announced he would be taking time “to seek evaluation and treatment.”
