Reese Witherspoon has backed out of a big movie in which she was slated to star and produce. Now TMZ knows why Reese bailed.
The movie, "Bunny Lake Is Missing," was to be a remake of Otto Preminger's 1965 film about a woman whose daughter disappears from a nursery school. Cops then try to convince the woman that her daughter was a figment of her imagination.
Reports are circulating that Witherspoon did not feel emotionally invested in the film, and that her psyche was fragile in the wake of her divorce from Ryan Phillippe.
But a well-placed, high-powered Hollywood source tells TMZ the problem had nothing to do with emotions. We're told Reese signed onto the project after being presented with the idea and a draft script. Last week, Reese was presented with what she thought would be a completed script, but turned out to be 80 pages that had major sections of the movie outlined but not written.
As the deadline approached for a summer shooting, Witherspoon exercised her option not to approve the incomplete script and withdrew as the star of the project. Reese worried about people who wouldn't have a job shooting this summer. "She's just as disappointed as anybody," the source says. "She's not working too."
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The original 1965 film with Carol Lynley wasn't that good anyway.
I like Reese and feel sorry for her but the show must go on, and for what she gets paid she should suck it up and get to work.
http://www.SheisNotGoodInBed.com
That plot -- again?????!! That movie has been done at least twice recently, once with Julianne Moore losing her kid and another time with Jodie Foster losing her kid on an airliner. In both flicks it was unclear whether the mom was imagining that she had a kid.
Jeez -- can't you movie people come up with something at least remotely original???
Trophy wife Slim and Trim!!!!:
Will Tara take over the lead? Will Stedman be supportive?
More like she dumped the project when she switched agencies. Blame it on the reps.
That's really bad news. The original starring Laurence Olivier, Kier Dullea, Noel Coward (!) and Carol Lynley (at the zenith of her beauty!) is a fantastic thriller and brilliantly directed in swingin' 60s London by Otto Preminger. I know that Ms. Lynley and the new director (from Smokin' Aces...Joe Carnahan) were both really excited about the project. I hope it will still happen with someone A-list like Reese. Carnahan even told me how much he thought Reese looked like young Carol.
And yes, #3...the Jodie Foster movie was a poor rip off. Do yourself a favor and watch the original. I think you'll really enjoy it.
An actress of Reese's stature shouldn't make a film without a script in place. She's not some beginner who needs to make anything thrown at her.
I think she did the right thing, withdrawing. And gosh.. why on earth should she just "suck it up" when her career and reputation is on the line? The film was on her shoulders!
Kudos Reese ... If theres not enough of a script then you did the right thing hon...
Look... I really like Reese Witherspoon but as I understand she had a pay or play deal and so writing something like "shes not working too" is really misleading. She was paid - but didn't have to play.
Reese,
Put your family back together for the sake of the kids. They need both you and Ryan....
Must be a slow gossip day for TMZ if they had to report this. And just think of all the shit they have on Paris but won't dish out because they can only report the positive spin on her or risk their exclusive deal with her.
Oh, TMZ should ask itself "WHY DOESN'T TMZ EVER REPORT THE DIRT ON PARIS?"
