DiCaprio film is bomb casualty

Producers are worried stars like Leonardo DiCaprio could be targets

Hollywood historical epic Alexander The Great, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, will no longer be shot in Morocco after the terrorist bombings in Casablanca last week.

Movie producers feared the film could be the target of bombers after the attacks that killed 41 people in Casablanca on Friday.

Producer Dino De Laurentiis said: "Unless the situation changes in five or six months, any important American actor could be a target. That's a risk I cannot take."

The film-makers have left a purpose built studio in Ouarzazate, 300 miles from Casablanca, after abandoning the Moroccan shoot.

Filming of the historical drama, which has a budget of $100m (£62m) and is directed by Moulin Rouge's Baz Luhrman, will instead move to Australia.

Parts of Gladiator were shot in Morocco

Another historical drama based on Alexander's life and directed by Oliver Stone is also scheduled to film in Morocco. The film star will Colin Farrell, recently seen in Phone Booth.

Last month, director Wolfgang Petersen cancelled plans to shoot part of his historical film Troy, starring Brad Pitt, in Morocco.

The film will now be shot on locations in Malta, Mexico and London.

Morocco has emerged as a major location for Hollywood projects, having already been seen in Gladiator and Black Hawk Down.

It has been popular with producers because of cheap costs, especially for hiring extras for major battle scenes.

Producers of the forthcoming Indiana Jones film - the fourth in the series - have also reportedly considered using the country, as have makers of the last of the Star Wars prequels.

George Lucas has already used Tunisia as the location for Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine in the Star Wars films.