Bradley Cooper has dropped out of filming for the upcoming spy-comedy ‘This Means War,’ The Hollywood Reporter announced on February 24. Originally set to star opposite leading lady Reese Witherspoon, Twentieth Century Fox confirmed Cooper’s departure, saying he had to leave due to scheduling conflicts with the sequel to the fan and critical favorite ‘The Hangover.’

‘Terminator Salvation’ director McG is in negotiations to direct ‘This Means War,’ which was set to begin filming in July. Director Todd Philips is supposed to start shooting ‘The Hangover 2’ in the fall, which is why Cooper originally agreed to star in both films.

But The Hollywood Reporter also said that the unofficial reason why Cooper left ‘This Means War’ was because he had creative concerns about the movie. One issue he had was with the script, which has been through numerous re-writes since Fox first bought it in 1998. The most recent re-write was by ‘Role Models’ writer Timothy Dowling. Cooper’s reps declined to comment on these rumors.

There is no word yet on what Fox will do with ‘This Means War.’ Even though the studio was pushing it as a priority project, there hasn’t been any confirmation over whether another actor as been found for Cooper’s role.

Written by: Karen Benardello