Movie delay supported by Affleck

Amy Ryan received an Oscar nomination for her performance

Hollywood actor Ben Affleck says he agreed with postponing the UK release of his first film as a director.

Gone Baby Gone was due out last year but was shelved until now because the story was too similar to that of Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

The three-year-old hasn't been seen since last May after going missing from a holiday flat in Portugal.

Gone Baby Gone has made more than $27m (£13.8m) around the world since it was released last October.

Ben Affleck said: "I was not involved in the decision making to delay the film but I certainly support the decision. I certainly didn't object to it.

Read the full interview with Ben Affleck

"And I respect the fact they made it and I respect the reasons why and I support the movie coming out now, later."

The people at Miramax made a really smart and compassionate decision to put it off till things had settled down a bit Casey Affleck

The Good Will hunting star is married to actress Jennifer Garner.

The couple met on the set of Daredevil and now have a two-year-old girl called Violet.

The actor, 35, says he's often worried about his daughter's safety.

He said: "I take a lot of steps [to keep her out of the public eye] but none of them are any good and I wish that there was something I could do to prevent photographs from being published. It's a difficult thing."

Watch a BBC News report on Gone Baby Gone

The film features Ben Affleck's brother Casey as a private investigator, Patrick Kenzie, who is brought in to look for a young girl from Boston who's gone missing.

Casey Affleck says the similarities between the Madeleine McCann case and Gone Baby Gone are quite small.

Casey Affleck plays a young private detective hired to find a missing girl

He said: "There are only really superficial similarities and this book was written 10 years ago.

"And the movie was made over two years ago, so it had nothing to do with the movie really.

"But the decision was a good decision and it wasn't made by Ben and it obviously wasn't made by me.

"But the people at Miramax, I think, made a really smart and compassionate decision to put it off till things had settled down a bit."