Jake Gyllenhaal won’t be replacing Tom Hardy in the role of Rick Flagg, the leader of the Suicide Squad in the Warner Bros. adaptation of the DC Comics property that starts filming this April (see "Tom Hardy Leaves 'Suicide Squad'"). 

Hardy and Gyllenhaal are both "A-list" actors, so their defections hurt, but there is still time to secure another actor before shooting begins, and the rest of the cast, Will Smith, Jered Leto, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, and Cara Devigngne, is certainly first rate as is director David (End of Watch) Ayer, so one would think that it shouldn’t be too hard for Warners to find a suitable actor for Rick Flagg, though with all the prestige cable TV productions, plus the new initiatives from streaming services like Netflix and Amazon, and busy slates from the major studios, scheduling conflicts could make the task more difficult that it might appear at first glance.

According to Variety, which broke the story of Gyllenhaal’s refusal, Warner Bros. had no comment concerning Gyllenhaal’s pulling out of talks to appear in the Suicide Squad film.  Warner Bros. plans to release the Suicide Squad movie on August 5, 2016.