Recently we’ve learned that actor Sid Haig landed himself in the ICU recently, but it would appear that this hasn’t been the first time his health has been an issue as of late. Sadly, Rob Zombie revealed that though the film was originally focused around Sid Haig’s character, a trip to the hospital forced him to change plans which including giving a bigger part to Richard Brake in 3 From Hell. He said:

“The movie that I prepped to make, and was getting ready to start shooting, it was Captain Spaulding, Otis, and Baby, the three originals … But three weeks out from shooting, I got a call from Sid Haig. He had been in the hospital, and he had just had surgery, and he was now recovering in a rehabilitation facility. I’m like, holy sh—, this is a serious business. So, I went to see him, and he had changed drastically from the last time I saw him. Because Sid, he’s big and burly, and now he’s tiny as a skeleton. So, I was like, oh man. I kind of realized, yeah, he’s in rough shape. So, at that point I was kind of f—ed.”

The director had some last minute ideas, so he enlisted his friend Richard Drake to more or less take Spaulding’s place in the film.

“I created this charter Foxy for Richard Brake. I had just worked with Richard on a movie called 31 and I knew he would fit the vibe. He was on another movie in Spain shooting. He flew right from that movie to L.A. and started working instantly. A lot of the scenes with Foxy were supposed to be Spaulding and I twisted things around so I didn’t have to rewrite every single thing. It was the funniest situation and the sh—tiest situation. Because, I went from one moment thinking, ‘This is the most prepared I have ever f—ing been to start a movie — everything is locked down tight’ — and within one phone call, the entire production went into complete chaos for three weeks. But at the end of the day, it all worked out great.”

3 From Hell will be released in around 900 theaters from September 16-18.

It will also be hitting Blu Ray on October 15th. You can order it here.