It looks like a case of Annette Bening out, Meg Ryan in for writer-director George Gallo’s Homeland Security, after Mrs Beatty bowed out before shooting began.
If the Against The Ropes star signs in Benning's place, she’ll be acting alongside Antonio Banderas in what has previously been described as a mystery in the tradition of Hitchcock’s To Catch A Thief.
Gallo – who wrote The Whole Ten Yards – will have to hope he locks his leading lady in shortly. He’s still planning to start shooting on 2 October in Louisiana.