Barry Levinson's crime caper Bandits has replaced John Woo's Windtalkers at the London Film Festival after MGM postponed the US release of the World War II film following the terrorist attacks in the US.

Bandits, which stars Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton and Cate Blanchett, takes up Windtalkers' gala screening slot at the UK event, which runs November 7-22.

The story of two non-violent bank robbers who become national celebrities was originally scheduled to play in the festival's Film On The Square section.

The festival, which opens and closes respectively with Robert Altman's Gosford Park and Iain Softley's K-PAX, is to announce a replacement for Bandit's original slot.