Reese Witherspoon has left production on Bunny Lake Is Missing for Columbia Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment; the actress was supposed to star in and produce the remake drama.

The film was scheduled to begin shooting in five weeks, but Witherspoon abruptly dropped out, much to the chagrin of director Joe Carnahan. Variety adds 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. Witherspoon's exit may have already caused casualties.

Doug Wright wrote the screenplay for Bunny Lake Is Missing 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.