Rabbie flick doubt as Gerard Butler pulls out

HOLLYWOOD hunk Gerard Butler has pulled out of a film about Rabbie Burns - sparking fears it will be AXED completely.

The 300 star has said he will not play Scotland's bard in the £5million movie - titled simply Burns - which was due to start shooting this year.

The entire project has now been thrown into chaos by the decision.

Last night a source close to the movie said: "Gerry was up for playing the part a couple of years back - but it's not on his radar now.

"He has much bigger projects in the pipeline and has pulled out. It's a huge blow. To be honest, there's little chance of it being made at all without Butler involved. He was the key."

The film focuses on the affairs the poet (below left) had with wife Jean Armour and Agnes McLehose, an Edinburgh society hostess. American Beauty star Thora Birch, 26, was set to star alongside Butler.

Burns was to be co-produced by London-based Mob Films during the year of Homecoming.

But last night a spokesman for Scottish Screen admitted: "Burns will not be made this year. We haven't heard from the production company for a while and there is no chance of Gerard Butler now becoming involved."

A spokesman for 39-year-old Butler confirmed that the Paisley-born actor would not now be taking part.

Earlier this year First Minister Alex Salmond - who planned to hold a fundraising bash for the film - said: "It would be great for Scotland if Burns could be immortalised in modern film, particularly as we mark the 250th anniversary of his birth."

The Burns movie, which was to be directed by French film-maker Vadim Jean, is just the latest Scottish production to be axed.

We revealed earlier this year how a £30million blockbuster about Mary Queen of Scots was cancelled because of the credit crunch.

The flick was due to star Hollywood beauty Scarlett Johansson, 24, but Aussie-born director Phillip Noyce confirmed it had been given the chop - just like the 16th century monarch.

Meanwhile, Butler will attend the premiere of his latest film, Law Abiding Citizen, at Glasgow's Cineworld on

November 15. The thriller, co-starring Jamie Foxx, sees him play an engineer fighting for justice after his wife and daughter are killed in a burglary.

This article has 0 comments