Washington, Sept 12 (ANI): Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski has pulled out of helming the 100 million dollar project "Pompeii", based on Robert Harris' novel set against the backdrop of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.

The big-budget epic has now been put on hold with bosses fearing that the upcoming actors strike could wreck the whole project.

Producer Robert Benmussa insisted that Polanski had not pulled out so that he could work on a different project, and that the director had been "working nonstop on the project for the past 18 months."

The looming actors strike is making the situation worse as current contracts for the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America both expire June 30, and production requires principal photography to take place during the summer in Europe, which could cause lensing to be delayed into the fall.

"We've been meeting agents and they've all said they can't commit beyond une 30, 2008 because of the strike. Unfortunately, we are scheduled to shoot in Southern Italy in August 2008," Variety quoted Benmussa, as saying.

The only way Polanski will return to the movie is if the union dispute is resolved between now and next February. However Benmussa said that he has "very little hope of that."

"The weather is an actor in this film, because the catastrophe happened Aug. 26, during the sweltering heat of summer, when water supplies had run out. It is a part of the story," he said.

"This isn't a TV film where sand dunes in Morocco are made to pass for some other part of the world. It's a question of credibility," he added.

Benmussa, producer Alain Sarde and Summit Intl., which is repping worldwide sales also noted in a statement that producers would have a right to back out if Polanski was no longer directing.

"I don't know what we are going to do yet. If Polanski is no longer directing, we'll have to completely remount the project. Distributors will also have their liberty to pull out of the film," Benmussa said.

He went on: "We still have the book rights, we still have a scenario and a very strong subject that people all over the world are interested in. This is a temporary problem that we have to resolve." (ANI)