The new Seth Rogen movie 50/50 is due to be released at the end of this month and it appears that the movie almost never happened. X-Men: First Class actor James McAvoy was set to play the lead character, who is diagnosed with cancer, but he had to pull out at the last minute due to a family emergency.
Director Jonathan Levine explained, "It was really, really tense and scary for a couple of days. We didn't really know what the fate of the movie was and we were worried for James.” Fortunately for the filmmaker they managed to get Joseph Gordon-Levitt in at extremely short notice.
Levine added, "Once we found out he would not return we found Joe and he was a great choice. Joe saved this movie in many ways." It seems that Joseph should always take movies at short notice as his performance in 50/50 has led to talks of an Oscar nomination. 50/50 is released in the US on September 30 and the UK on January 6.
