She’s having a Baby: Kidman exits Daldry’s ‘The Reader’

Time for Malin Akerman, Carice van Houten or a rejuvenated Diane Kruger to step up to the plate – Nicole Kidman has officially stepped out of the highly anticipated Stephen Daldry’s The Reader. After a year of box office lows with The Invasion and The Golden Compass, it looks like an A-list actress is making a sound business decision: mini-retirement with a big comeback – say a Wong Kar-wai film?

Variety reports that while production had began in Berlin last year, no scenes were shot with Nicole. This is an important year-end/award season's project for The Weinstein Company, the producers (Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack with Scott Rudin) will have to find a fine, high-caliber actress have to find someone in the 30 to 40 age demographic and presently there is not much time left in the hour glass until the actor's  union begins to close down productions and commence talks.

Based on the Bernard Schlink novel, and scripted by David Hare this tells the tale of fifteen-year-old Michael Berg who is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover–then she inexplicably disappears. When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student, and she is on trial for a hideous crime. As he watches her refuse to defend her innocence, Michael gradually realizes that Hanna may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder.