Tom Hardy has dropped out of Suicide Squad, Warner Bros.’s all-star comic book movie being directed by David Ayer. Not losing a beat, the studio has made overtures to Jake Gyllenhaal, who has generated heat for his performance in Nightcrawer, to replace him

Based on DC Entertainment’s villains-forced-to-be-heroes characters, the cast boasts a nefarious line-up that includes Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and Jared Leto, along with Jai Courtney and Cara Delevingne.

Hardy was to have played Rick Flagg, the leader of the group that consisted of Batman villains Deadshot (Smith), Joker (Leto), and Harley Quinn (Robbie), plus Boomerang (Courtney) and Enchantress (Delevigne).

Hardy’s exit is due to scheduling, according to sources. The actor is currently shooting The Revenant, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s frontier drama that also stars Leonardo DiCaprio, and that shoot is now looking to go longer than initially planned.

Hardy is also starring in Mad Max: Fury Road for Warners and that movie opens May 15, smack in the middle of Suicide filming. Suicide is due to begin shooting mid-April in Toronto but Hardy will have press commitments for Fury Road that will take him around the world.

Gyllenhaal has an offer to replace Hardy but it's unclear whether or not the actor will take it on. Gyllenhaal, who worked with Ayer on the acclaimed police thriller End of Watch, is currently on Broadway for his play Constellations. The play runs until mid-March. It's unknown whether that gives the actor enough prep time or down time for a prolonged shoot.

Now, we've learned why Tom Hardy has dropped out of the project. According to sources, He simply didn't like the script he was finally given, he didn't like the drastic change to the character. Like we figured, the scheduling conflict is a cover story, so he left the project under amicable terms.

The rumor is the latest draft of Suicide Squad has upped the screen time of Deadshot and The Joker at the expense of the lesser-villains in the movie like Rick Flagg. This also may have contributed to Hardy's exit.