I was so, so excited for Philip Noyce’s upcoming biopic about Amelia Earhart, set to star Hilary Swank, but now it looks like it might not happen at all. Moviehole is reporting that Noyce has dropped out of the project, saying “it didn't appear that the film was going ahead.” He doesn’t explain why the shoot was stalling, but the reason could be anything from script problems to trouble getting financing.

Noyce tells Moviehole that he had already put a good bit of work into the project: “I had worked on Amelia for 5 months from July to end of December 2007, finding all the locations and extensively storyboarding the flying sequences.” Clearly the man was invested in the project, so why give up so quickly and move on to the next project, Mary Queen of Scots with Scarlett Johansson? Noyce isn’t telling, but he does promise that Swank will stick with Earhart: “Personally, she's the only person I could ever see in that role. An American Icon playing an American Icon.”

“Bummer” is pretty much the only word for this one. Philip Noyce is a well-respected director, from the highly praised The Quiet American to 2006’s underrated Catch a Fire. He clearly had a lot of passion for the project, and was excited about it. Will Swank stick around even if Noyce is replaced by a less-talented director? He’s right that it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the role, but Swank makes smart choices for the most part, and might get away from this one if it seems to be a sinking ship. Again, bummer. Amelia Earhart is an amazing figure deserving of her own biopic, and now it’s looking that much less likely that her story will make it to the screen.