Abigail Breslin will replace Elle Fanning and Sofia Vassilieva is near a deal to replace Dakota Fanning in New Line drama My Sister’s Keeper, directed by Nick Cassavetes.
Variety says Dakota Fanning balked at a request that she shave her head for the role and both sisters withdrew abruptly.
Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) will take over the role of a young girl who sues for emancipation from parents who conceived her as a genetic match so she could prolong the life of her ailing older sister. Vassilieva (“Medium”) would play the older sister.
Cameron Diaz plays the mother of the girls, a tough lawyer who takes her own case in court. Alec Baldwin plays the attorney who represents the child. Joan Cusack will also star in the drama, a Jeremy Leven-scripted adaptation of the Jodi Picoult novel.
Production is still on track for March, with Mark Johnson and Chuck Pacheco producing.
