Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon has abruptly dropped out of the remake of Bunny Lake Is Missing, just weeks before production was set to begin.

The Walk The Line star was set to star in the movie and serve as a producer on the project when it filming was due to begin next month.

Filmmakers are desperately searching for another actress to replace Witherspoon, but sources close to the project says the start date will probably be delayed.

Joe Carnahan, who had signed on to direct the remake, is reportedly so furious over the star's shocking departure he has sacked his manager, Evelyn O'Neill, who also manages Witherspoon.

The film has been in the works for three years and is based on the 1965 Otto Preminger film about a woman who reports her daughter missing, only to be confronted by charges that she never existed.