If you want to talk about a big blow to a project, here’s a prime example. As Cineuropa (via ThePlaylist) reports, directors Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa have lost three major cast members for their upcoming Good Vibrations. This is something that can normally be dealt with, depending on who the actors are, but when they’re Michael Fassbender, Steve Coogan, and Robert Sheehan… you’ve got problems. (Sheehan isn’t quite as big a name as those other two, but that fact doesn’t make this any easier for the production.) Reasons for their departures haven’t been given, but I would guess that their busy schedules have kept them from staying on.

We told you about Fassbender joining the project back in May, which follows Terri Hooley, who “owned a record shop in England (called Good Vibrations) in the 70′s, and in that time started its own label that included bands like The Moondogs, The Shapes and The Undertones.” The subject is being played by Richard Dormer, and the rest of the cast includes Jodie Whittaker, Liam Cunningham, Dylan Moran, and Adrian Dunbar. The script has been written by Glenn Patterson and Colin Carberry, while the music is being done by Ocean‘s trilogy composer David Holmes.

My expectations for Good Vibrations were actually kind of high, thanks to a stellar cast and interesting source material. That sense of anticipation is sadly diminished, as I would have preferred to see these actors appear — particularly Fassbender, because he can basically do no wrong. I wish this production nothing but the best; the fact that they’re moving forward is a good sign, so maybe this won’t ruin its chances at success.

Are you disappointed that these three have dropped out? If you were looking forward to the film before, are you still?