Irish actor Stuart Townsend has quit superhero blockbuster Thor just days before the movie was set to start shooting.
It’s the second time the Queen of the Damned star has missed out on a potentially major film franchise — he was replaced by Viggo Mortensen in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Fandral, Townsend’s role in Thor, will now go to little-known actor Joshua Dallas.
Full details about the actor’s departure have not been released, but Internet reports suggest he left the Marvel Comics movie adaptation, directed by Kenneth Branagh, over creative differences.
Branagh’s film will star Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman, Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins.
The film is scheduled for a May 2011 release.
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