Variety reports that five weeks before production was scheduled to begin on the Spyglass-financed remake of Bunny Lake Is Missing, Reese Witherspoon abruptly dropped out of the film, much to the chagrin of director Joe Carnahan.

Beyond the late notice, the exit is surprising because Witherspoon and Type A Films partner Jennifer Simpson were aboard to produce with Mark Gordon.

Spyglass is scrambling to find an actress to replace Witherspoon, but chances are the start date will have to be pushed.

The Columbia Pictures release has been in the works for three years. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright, the movie is based on the 1965 Otto Preminger film about a woman who reports that her daughter Bunny Lake is missing — only to be confronted by charges that she never existed.

The trade adds that Carnahan will have to stay on schedule as he’s committed to helm the remake before he directs White Jazz, an adaptation of the James Ellroy book that was scripted by the director’s brother, Matthew Michael Carnahan. George Clooney will star and produce with partner Grant Heslov.