James McAvoy's new movie Filth was almost mothballed as executives failed to rase enough funds - until Sting's producer wife Trudie Styler stepped in.

The Wanted actor stars as sleazy police officer Bruce Robertson in the big screen adaptation of Irvine Welsh's 1998 novel of the same name but the film nearly fell at the first hurdle as the production was still $1.05 million (£700,000) short of its budget when shooting was about to start.

Director Jon S. Baird even poured his own money into the project but he and his colleagues were still forced to spend their festive holidays desperately ringing around to secure the final funds, and they almost gave up hope until Styler stumped up the rest of the cash.

He tells Britain's Daily Record, "That was a tough Christmas. I thought I'd lost all my money and we were bashing phones on Christmas Day (25Dec12) and Boxing Day (26Dec12), trying to save our movie. (But Styler) saved the day."

In return for her movie-saving funds, Baird even cast Styler in a small role in the film - as a madam in a Hamburg, Germany brothel which MCAvoy's character visits.