Ben Affleck’s directorial debut film “Gone Baby Gone,” has been shelved in the U.K. The reason? The story is similar to that of the case of the missing British girl Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from her Portuguese holiday apartment in early May.

The film originally scheduled for release on December 28 has been put on hold indefinitely by its distributor, Buena Vista International U.K. This came as a surprising news as earlier reports have stated that the film was loosely based on Dennis Lehane’s book about a 4-year-old who goes missing.

In a bizarre coincidence, the missing girl in the film is played by American actress Madeline O’Brien, who bears a physical resemblance to her missing British counterpart.

This week, the McCann parents were named as official suspects by Portuguese police. It’s possible that this development in the McCann case led to the decision to pull the fictional pic, but no one at the distributors was available to comment on this matter.

The decision to pull the film follows Affleck’s sensitive comments at the Deauville Film Festival.