Holmes sex scene cut

Film

16:30 25 January 2006

A steamy sex scene between Katie Holmes and Aaron Eckhart has been cut from new movie 'Thank You for Smoking' - sparking speculation her fiancé Tom Cruise objected to it.

Holmes, who plays an investigative reporter, and Eckhart, who plays a tobacco lobbyist, had filmed a racy romp for the film.

The sexy scene was still included in the movie when it debuted at last year's Toronto Film Festival.

But it has now vanished from the version shown at the Sundance Film Festival - sparking rumours that Cruise used his influence to remove the footage.

However, a spokeswoman for Fox Searchlight, who produced the film, said: "It has never been altered. It will be released with that scene. We don't know what happened, but we're looking into it."

When director Jason Reitman was asked about the missing sequence, he joked that it had been lost in a "technical glitch" during a reel change. , Reitman also added: "If you want to see a sex scene with Katie Holmes, rent 'The Gift.'" - a reference to the 2000 film in which the former 'Dawson's Creek' beauty appears topless.

(c) BANG Media International