Simon Cowell - Movie About Cowell's Protege Axed

SIMON COWELL's planned biopic about BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT star PAUL POTTS has been axed, according to moviemaker MATTHEW VAUGHN.

Opera singer Potts shot to fame after winning the first series of the U.K. reality show in 2007.

The music mogul was planning to make a movie based on Potts' life - but the venture has stalled after he failed to find an actor willing to take on the lead role, according to Britain's The Sun.

And Vaughn is devastated the project has been pulled, branding the decision "tragic".

He tells the publication, "It should have gone ahead. Simon and I had a good vision for how the film should be, and it would have been brilliant. But the studios were umm-ing and ahh-ing and they missed the opportunity to do it.

"It's tragic, because the script was brilliant. Simon had done a great job. I was looking forward to working with him and it would have been a big hit."