Rising star leaves new project from Felix van Groeningen, director of The Broken Circle Breakdown.

Matthias Schoenaerts has left upcoming feature Belgica, according to production company Menuet.

The Belgian star of Bullhead and Rust and Bone was set to play the main role in the latest film from Felix van Groeningen, director of Oscar-nominated The Broken Circle Breakdown.

Schoenaerts has chosen to devote his attention to an upcoming US project at this time, said a statement from Ghent-based Menuet.

A replacement will be announced ahead of the shoot, which will begin on December 1 in Ghent.

Schoenaerts will be next seen alongside Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and the late James Gandolfini in The Drop, from Bullhead director Michaël R. Roskam.

He will also star in Alan Rickman’s A Little Chaos, which will close the Toronto film festival in September; romantic war drama Suite Francaise; and novel adaptation Far from the Madding Crowd, directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Juno Temple, Michael Sheen and Carey Mulligan.

Belgica follows two brothers who start a bar and get swept up in its success in the midst of Belgium’s nightlife scene.

Van Groeningen wrote the script with With Friends Like These co-writer Arne Sierens, and the film will be produced by Menuet in co-production with Topkapi and Pyramide Productions.

Van Groeningen is represented by CAA and Management 360. Schoenaerts is represented by CAA.

World sales for Belgica will be handled by The Match Factory.