Variety reports that Sean Connery has abruptly withdrawn from 20th Century Fox's Josiah's Canon, for which he was to receive $17.5 million. The studio and director Brett Ratner are in the process of trying to replace Connery to keep the film on track. The movie was ready to begin shooting in Prague in February.

"Canon" is a dramatic heist story about a Holocaust survivor who leads the world's foremost team of bank robbers. The criminal mastermind sets his sights on an supposedly impenetrable bank in Switzerland, which holds special appeal: It purportedly houses gelt deposited by Jews prior to the Holocaust.