GERARD Depardieu has been sensationally pulled from his comeback film, weeks after The Sun told how he was about to make his big-screen return.

I revealed last month he was due to appear in an £85million comedy thriller called Travel Agents, which would have been his first movie since being arrested for alleged sexual assault.

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But I can now reveal that controversy over his casting was so big that producers have since reconsidered.

The production will be loosely based on the life of Austrian entrepreneur Juergen Pichler, better known as the singer Trickster, and it is looking for a new star.

A source said: “Travel Agents is a massive project and there has been a lot of interest. The team in charge didn’t want the narrative to be about this casting. A deal in principle was agreed with his Swiss agent and a letter of intent was received, but it’s not moving forward to contract stage.

“A lot of allegations have been made against Gerard, which he denies, and now the team are reconsidering who to bring on board. But it won’t be him.

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“The script is still being finalised but the hope is that work can begin on the movie later this year.”

A string of claims of sexual assault have been made against Gerard, but he has always vehemently denied them.

He is to stand trial in October over the alleged assaults of two women in 2021, so I’m not surprised the industry’s waiting before making decisions on his future.