Bruce Willis has bowed out of appearing at this month's London Film Festival, citing "family reasons".

The star was due to attend a gala screening of MGM crime ensemble Bandits on November 15, as well as take part in a public interview with festival director Adrian Wootton at the National Film Theatre on the same day.

Bandits itself replaced Windtalkers, which was pulled from the line-up after its US release was pushed back to next summer in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

Willis' fellow Bandits star Cate Blanchett, director Barry Levinson and producer Arnold Rifkin are still scheduled to attend the festival, which starts November 7.