Tom Hardy Departs SUICIDE SQUAD

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tom Hardy has departed Warner Bros. "Suicide Squad," due to scheduling conflicts. DC and the studio are currently eyeing Jake Gyllenhaal to replace him as Rick Flagg.

The film will also star two-time Oscar nominee Will Smith ("The Pursuit of Happyness," "Ali," upcoming "Focus") as Deadshot; Margot Robbie ("The Wolf of Wall Street," upcoming "Focus," the "Tarzan" movie) as Harley Quinn; Oscar winner Jared Leto ("Dallas Buyers Club," "Alexander") as the Joker; Jai Courtney ("Divergent," upcoming "The Water Diviner") as Boomerang; and Cara Delevingne ("Anna Karenina," upcoming "Pan") as Enchantress.

Bringing DC Comics' super villain team to the big screen is director David Ayer ("Fury").

Ayer is also writing the script for "Suicide Squad," which is being produced by Charles Roven ("The Dark Knight" trilogy, upcoming "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice") and Richard Suckle ("American Hustle"). Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Colin Wilson and Geoff Johns are serving as executive producers.

The film is slated for release on August 5, 2016.

Among Hardy's other upcoming projects are The Drop, Child 44, London Road, Mad Max: Fury Road and Legend. He recent appeared in Locke, The Dark Knight Rises, Lawless and This Means War.