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Earlier this week, it emerged that Joseph Gordon-Levitt had replaced McAvoy in I'm With Cancer.
Meanwhile, co-star Seth Rogen said that it was "incredibly unfortunate" that McAvoy had left the movie and blamed it on "circumstances outside of everyone's control".
Sources have now told The Daily Telegraph that McAvoy turned down the role to support his wife Anne-Marie Duff, who announced her pregnancy in January. He would reportedly have earned a "seven-figure sum" for taking part in the movie.
"James wants to be there when his baby's born," an insider explained.
McAvoy and Duff met on the set of Shameless in 2003 and married three years later.
More: James McAvoy, Movies
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