Affleck puts movie release on hold

THE UK release of Ben Affleck’s new film about a four-year-old girl’s disappearance has been delayed indefinitely because of its similarities with the Madeleine McCann case, distributors said.

Gone Baby Gone, which is the Oscar winner’s first movie as director, tells the tale of a girl who is kidnapped from her bed after her parents leave her by herself.

Madeline O’Brien, who plays the missing girl Amanda McCready in the film, bears a close resemblance to Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal on May 3.

The film, which was shot last year, before Madeleine’s disappearance, was set to be released in the UK in November.

In a statement, distributors Buena Vista International and Miramax said they were “sensitive to the depth of feeling surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann”.

“We have been closely following the case and have decided to delay the release of the film in the UK,” they said.

Earlier this week, at the Deauville film festival in France, Affleck said: “All the people involved in the film have much greater concern for Madeleine McCann than we do for the release of our project. The movie will not be released if it is going to touch a nerve or inflame anybody’s sensitivities.”

The potential loss of millions of pounds at the box-office sales was not important. “The movie is just a commercial matter, whereas this is a matter of life and death,” he said.

Affleck’s film is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane and stars Affleck’s brother Casey and Oscar winner Morgan Freeman.