Shia LaBeouf Withdraws From Broadway\'s \'Orphans\'

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Mr. LaBeouf.

Shia LaBeouf has shared the screen with Optimus Prime, Indiana Jones and Gordon Gekko, but he won’t be facing off against Alec Baldwin on a Broadway stage this season. Mr. LaBeouf, a star of films like “Transformers,” “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” had been slated to make his Broadway debut this spring in “Orphans,” the Lyle Kessler play about two orphaned brothers, now adults, who kidnap a rich businessan and turn him into their father figure. But on Wednesday, the producers of the Broadway production said that Mr. LaBeouf was withdrawing from the role of Treat, the older brother. “Due to creative differences, the producers of ‘Orphans’ and Shia LaBeouf will be parting ways and he will not be continuing with the production,” press representatives for the play said in a brief statement. “An announcement on the replacement for the role of ‘Treat’ will be made shortly.”

Tom Sturridge (of “Being Julia” and “On the Road”) will remain with the play in the role of Philip, the younger brother, and Mr. Baldwin will continue as Harold, the rich businessman. “Orphans,” directed by by Daniel Sullivan, is still scheduled to begin previews at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater on March 19 and open on April 7.