Variety has confirmed that Prime Video plans to recast the lead role in the upcoming God of War movie after star Ryan Hurst was injured on set.
Hearst is set to play Kratos, the titular god of war, and Prime Video released the first look at him in the role in February of this year. But the Sony Pictures TV/Amazon MGM series, which is based on a PlayStation video game, suffered a setback in June when Hearst was injured.
Prime Video declined to comment on the news, which was first reported by Deadline. Hearst has been part of the God of War universe for some time, having previously voiced the Norse god Thor in the video game God of War: Ragnarok.
Now, a new actor needs to be brought in to play Callum Vinson’s young son Atreus, and scenes will have to be reshot. Additional cast members include Max Parker as Heimdall, Ólafur Dari Olafsson as Thor, Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Danny Woodburn and Jeff Gurka as brothers Bullock and Sindri, and Ed Skrein as Balder.
After casting the new Kratos, Prime Video hopes to get production back on track by mid-fall.
The official description for the character reads, “Kratos is a Spartan by birth and essentially a god. Raised in a martial arts culture, he rose to the point of commanding armies for his homeland, but one day he made a fateful bargain with Ares, the Greek god of war, and lost his soul in exchange for victory in battle.”
As previously reported, the series will feature stories from the two most recent God of War games. In this game, Kratos must raise his 10-year-old son Atreus while battling Norse gods. According to the logline, “Father and son Kratos and Atreus embark on a journey to scatter the ashes of his wife and mother Faye. Throughout their adventure, Kratos attempts to teach his son to be a better god, and Atreus attempts to teach his father how to be a better man.”
“God of War” has received orders for two seasons on Amazon. Ronald D. Moore is the writer, executive producer, and showrunner of God of War, which is owned by Tall Ship Productions.
Frederick E.O. Toy will direct the first two episodes of God of War. Tall Ship’s Marilu Davis will also serve as executive producer along with Corey Barlog, Naren Shankar, Matthew Graham, Asad Kizilbash, Jeff Ketchum, Hermen Hulst, Roy Lee, and Brad Van Aragon. Joe Menosky, Marc Bernardin, Tania Lottier and Ben McGinnis serve as co-executive producers on the series. The series is co-produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios in association with PlayStation Productions and Tall Ship Productions.
Hearst’s credits include Christopher Nolan’s new film The Odyssey, and recent television appearances include The Abundance, SWAT, The Mysterious Benedict Society, Paradise City, and The Walking Dead.
