The folk behind the upcoming The Hangover Part IIare experiencing all kinds of confusion. The first surprise is that Liam Neeson, taking a cameo as a tattoo artist, was cut from the film and replaced by director Nick Cassavetes.

The studio was eager to assure us that no fault lay with the Ballymena man (I should think not, people). It seems that the scene following Neeson’s turn has been cut and, thus, the tattoo sequence no longer made any sense. Unfortunately, Neeson – currently the hardest-working bloke in show business – had moved on to another production and was, thus, unable to reshoot his big scene.

“We were in a complete time crunch so I called up Nick and asked if he would do the part,” director Todd Phillips explained.

Now it emerges that the producers have got in a tussle over a sequence involving monkey erotica in an early trailer. Following complaints, the offending shot, during which the monkey does something disgusting to a bottle top, has been withdrawn and all copies have been destroyed. I don’t imagine Warners Bros will object too much to the unexpected publicity.