Jack Black magics his way out of "Man-Witch"

Let it be said that Jack Black is a busy little comedic bear, having lent his vocal chords to the incoming "Kung Fu Panda", and finishing up on the Ben Stiller-directed "Tropic Thunder", Black can be forgiven for wanting to free up his schedule for some well earned R&R. And that's exactly what's happened with director Todd Phillips' "Man-Witch". According to Variety, Black has dropped out of the Warner Bros. property.

Black will no longer star as the titular Witch dude, in a film that has a faint whiff of "School of Rock" about it only this time Black was due to play a senior "Man-Witch" having to tutor a group of would-be girl witches-in-training. So less rock and more hocus-pocus then!

However, despite this early blow, Warner Bros. have announced that the film will move forward as planned with a tentative January start date still firmly in place.