Affleck attends US film premiere

Updated 14.05 Tue Oct 09 2007

Keywords: Gone Baby Gone, Madeleine McCann, Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck attended the US premiere of his new crime thriller movie Gone Baby Gone.

The film is the Hollywood actor's directing debut and tells the story of a kidnapped four-year-old girl.

"There's a family there and a country that's been exposed to the story and seems to have become, to a certain degree, sensitive to it, so Disney thought they would air on the side of good taste and postpone it" - Ben Affleck

Ben's younger brother Casey Affleck plays the lead role in the film, which also features Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris.

Meanwhile, the UK release of the movie has been postponed after coming too close to portraying a real life case.

The film has been deemed too similar to the case of missing Madeleine McCann who's disappearance from a holiday apartment in Praia Da Luz on May 3 has dominated headlines around the world.

Based on a best-selling novel by Dennis Lehane, Gone Baby Gone is a fictional account of Amanda McCready, who is kidnapped from her bed after her parents leave her by herself.

Coincidentally, the young actress who plays Amanda is called Madeleine but the similarities could not have been foreseen as filming began over a year ago.

Affleck said: "There's a family there and a country that's been exposed to the story and seems to have become, to a certain degree, sensitive to it, so Disney thought they would air on the side of good taste and postpone it."

Gone Baby Gone opens in the US next week, but its UK release, due in November, has been put on hold indefinitely.