McGregor snub threatens Madonna's 'W.E.'

Madonna's next directorial effort W.E. is under threat following the departure of stars Ewan McGregor and Vera Farmiga and key production personnel, reports the Daily Mail.

W.E.'s cross-generational story centres on a modern-day Manhattanite, Wally Winthrop, who becomes obsessed with Edward VIII's romance with twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson. The affair eventually led to Edward's abdication from the throne in 1936.

McGregor has allegedly walked away from talks to play the king, while Up In The Air Oscar nominee Farmiga has turned down the Simpson role. Bright Star's Abbie Cornish is still attached to play Winthrop.

Additionally, producer David Parfitt and casting director Nina Gold have quit W.E., with sources claiming that the duo had "creative differences" with Madonna and found that she struggled to "collaborate and delegate".

"All directors are demanding - there's nothing new there - but there's an art to doing it with grace and good manners," a source is quoted as saying.

It had been rumoured that Madonna wanted to use Sex Pistols songs 'Anarchy In The UK' and 'God Save The Queen' in the movie. The latter track will reportedly back a sequence of the 70-year-old Duchess of Windsor dancing with her pugs.

Madonna previously directed the comedy Filth And Wisdom, which opened to mixed reviews at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2008.