Gavin O’Connor will fill the boots of the absent Lynne Ramsey on the western drama, Jane Got A Gun, starring Natalie Portman, Deadline report.

Best known for his work on MMA drama Warrior, O’Connor will have to work quickly to get up to speed, considering the way in which Ramsey left the show (a rather unceremonious ‘not showing up on day one of shooting’ routine, if you didn’t remember). O’Connor – also the writer-director of Pride And Glory, Miracle and Tumbleweeds – will get the show back on the road on Thursday. “I have millions of dollars invested, we’re ready to shoot, we have a great script, crew and cast,” Scott Steindorff – producer and financier of the show - told Deadline of Ramsey’s sudden departure: “I’m shocked and so disappointed someone would do this to 150 crew members who devoted so much time, energy, commitment and loyalty to a project, and then have the director not show up. It is insane somebody would do this to other people. I feel more for the crew and their families, but we are keeping the show going on, directors are flying in, and a replacement is imminent."

Natalie PortmanNatalie Portman and Benjamin Millipied

The implications of her behaviour ‘shouldn’t’, and we would like those without a sound knowledge of inverted commas to look away now, bear any further legal consequences, as she was on a pay or play deal, and she chose not to play, therefore: she doesn’t get any money. She knew that before she gave up on it, but her reputation may have suffered irreparable damage. Only time will tell.