In a rather unexpected development, director Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of the popular TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. has lost its leading man.  Tom Cruise was originally set to star in the Warner Bros. spy pic, which is being planned as a potential franchise-starter, but with a fall production start-date looming Cruise has now vacated the starring role in order to focus his efforts on getting Mission: Impossible 5 off the ground. The film had recently started filling out its cast with Armie Hammer signing on to co-star and Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina) entering talks to play the film’s female lead, but Ritchie must now start searching to fill his leading role .  Hit the jump for more on the future of both U.N.C.L.E. and Mission: Impossible 5.

It’s going to be incredibly tough to top director Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, but it appears that Tom Cruise is officially up for the challenge.  Cruise has now signed a deal to star in and produce Mission: Impossible 5 for Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions.  There’s no official word on who will be writing and/or directing the next installment of the franchise, but Cruise’s Jack Reacher writer/director Christopher McQuarrie is supposedly in line to take the gig.  Hit the jump for more, including a refresher on Cruise’s upcoming schedule.

It was the only game in town, so Oblivion’s first place finish this weekend didn’t come as a shock. Universal’s sci-fi release had a solid debut – earning an estimated $38.1 million from 3,783 locations, or just under what G.I. Joe: Retaliation managed three weeks back. Oblivion also topped its initial domestic projection of $35 million, though the real strength of the Tom Cruise vehicle is overseas.

As the only new release of the week, it should be no surprise that Oblivion took first place at Friday’s box office. The sci-fi feature, starring Tom Cruise, earned an estimated $13.3 million from 3,783 locations yesterday, though it is unclear if that includes the $1.1 million it made from Thursday and midnight previews. Oblivion is expected to take in $38 million through Sunday. That number is slightly ahead of the film’s pre-release forecasts and would stand as Tom Cruise’s highest opening since Mission: Impossible III, if realized.

The Place Beyond the Pines expanded from 514 to 1,542 theatres on Friday. The Derek Cianfrance drama fell just short of the top five and is on track for a $5 million three-day total.  We’ll have full details and analysis tomorrow.

When science fiction wants to present thoughtful subtext, it can’t go broad.  The freedom to construct a world has to come down to precise themes.  The world can be derivative (or “inspired by” if you want to be charitable), and the themes can be universal, but they have to be cohesive.  In casting a wide net for influences, Joseph Kosinski‘s Oblivion mashes-up the ideas from better movies, and doesn’t put them towards abstraction or ambiguity, but towards ambivalence.  The film is more concerned with its gorgeous visuals and rousing score while the emotions become lost in a shuffle of reveals and fragmented ideas.

It appears that Tom Cruise is becoming quite fond of the science-fiction genre.  The actor stars in director Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi pic Oblivion, which opens this weekend, and he recently wrapped the starring role in Doug Liman’s sci-fi thriller All You Need Is Kill.  Now Cruise has become attached to star in an adaptation of author Chōhei Kambayashi’s sci-fi novel series Yukikaze for Warner Bros.  The book series takes place on an Earth ravaged by war, where a hyper-dimensional passageway opened up over Antarctica thirty years previously, setting into motion events that would find the human race uniting to fight off the mysterious alien force known as JAM.

Cruise would play a second lieutenant who is tasked with heading into enemy territory—the alien home planet Fairy—and gathering information that can bring an end to the war once and for all.  Hit the jump for more.

We’ve got 27 new hi-res images from writer/director Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi thriller Oblivion to share with you today.  You may have seen some of these visual treats in previous gallery articles, but now we have them in the highest of resolutions so that you might enjoy zooming in on each of Morgan Freeman’s freckles.  There are also some bonus behind-the-scenes shots from the set of Oblivion that features Kosinski looking rather pensive.

Starring Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, NIkolaj Coster-Waldau, Melissa Leo and Zoe Bell, Oblivion opens April 19th in IMAX and traditional screenings.  Hit the jump to partake of the new images.

With writer/director Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion opening April 19th, we’ve been provided with four clips from the sci-fi film.  The story takes place on a dystopian Earth and stars Tom Cruise as a drone repairman who holds the future of mankind in his hands after discovering a crashed spaceship. Oblivion also stars Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman, Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Melissa Leo. 

Over the past few months we’ve seen tons of images, posters, images, and featurettes.  Based on what I’ve seen thus far, I’m counting down the days, especially since Kosinski told us that Oblivion will be presented “in IMAX will be full frame 1.9 through the whole thing.”  Needless to say, if you’re going to see the film, see it in IMAX!  Hit the jump to watch the clips and look for my video interviews with the cast week of release.

The folks at Universal, in conjunction with IMAX, have released two new featurettes for their post-apocalyptic, sci-fi thriller Oblivion.  The film, directed by Joseph Kosinski (TRON: Legacy), stars Tom Cruise as Jack Harper, a veteran sent on a mission to Earth 60 years after everything on the planet has been obliterated.  The first of these featurettes shows the visually-stunning canvas that encompasses the world of Oblivion, while Cruise and Kosinski talk about its “haunting beauty” and the decision to make the film in IMAX full frame.  The second featurette is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film in the desolate, volcanic landscapes of Iceland.  The stunning setting is sure to be a hit with IMAX viewers and quite the treat for the eyes.

Hit the jump to watch the featurettes.  Oblivion opens in theaters April 19, 2013 and also stars Morgan Freeman, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Olga Kurylenko.

New images from writer/director Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi epic Oblivion are now available.  In addition to the futuristic tech and machinery showcased here, we get new looks at characters played by Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.  Oblivion finds drone repairman Jack Harper (Cruise) scavenging Earth for scarce resources when a beautiful stranger (Kurylenko) crash lands and turns his world upside-down.

The film also stars Andrea Riseborough, and Melissa Leo.  Oblivion opens in traditional and IMAX theaters on April 19th.  Hit the jump to view the new images.

Universal has unveiled a bounty of goodies from director Joseph Kosinski’s upcoming sci-fi pic Oblivion.  The featurettes focus on Kosinski’s desire to do as many of the film’s visual effects in camera as possible, and it’s absolutely fascinating to see how he pulled off some of these tricks.  For scenes in the film’s skytower, instead of using a blue screen to fill out the sky background, Kosinski actually projected footage of the real sky (which he shot in Maui) 360 degrees around the set, so everything the audience sees in the background is practical.  The other featurette focuses on the creation of the pic’s “bubble ship,” and it’s another interesting look into Kosinski’s strong flair for design.

Hit the jump to take a look at the featurettes and TV spots.  The film also stars The film also stars Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, and Morgan Freeman.  Oblivion opens in traditional and IMAX theaters on April 19th.

Reports have Tom Cruise in early talks to star in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the Warner Bros. feature adaptation of the 1960s series.  The show starred Robert Vaughan and David McCallum as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, agents of the United Network Command for Law Enforcement who used gadgets and wits to fight against the evil organization known as T.H.R.U.S.H.  Guy Ritchie (Snatch) will direct from a Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum) script.  Hit the jump for more.

Universal Pictures has released a new trailer for director Joseph Kosinski’s upcoming sci-fi film Oblivion. The story takes place on a dystopian Earth and stars Tom Cruise as a drone repairman who holds the future of mankind in his hands after discovering a crashed spaceship.  While the film’s first trailer was a tad underwhelming, this is undoubtedly the best trailer yet.  It does an excellent job of setting up the film’s plot while also teasing some absolutely gorgeous visuals and exciting tech.  We also get a good look at the character played by Melissa Leo, who appears to have some mysterious motives.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, and Morgan Freeman.  Oblivion opens on April 12th exclusively in IMAX theaters, and expands nationwide on April 19th. [Update: Universal has also unveiled a batch of high-resolution images and posters, which are now included after the jump.]

Universal Pictures has released a couple of new posters for director Joseph Kosinski’s (Tron: Legacy) upcoming sci-fi pic Oblivion.  The story takes place on a dystopian Earth and stars Tom Cruise as a drone repairman who holds the future of mankind in his hands after discovering a crashed spaceship.  These posters highlight Cruise’s relationship with a mysterious character played by Morgan Freeman, as well as the vast, dystopian landscape of Earth.  The latest trailer did an excellent job of laying out the film’s plot and the visuals look gorgeous, so hopefully Kosinski delivers a worthy entry into the sci-fi genre.

Hit the jump to take a look at the posters.  The film also stars Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, and Melissa Leo.  Oblivion opens on April 12th exclusively in IMAX theaters, and expands nationwide on April 19th.

Back in January, we reported that a sequel to writer/director Christopher McQuarrie’s Jack Reacher was looking unlikely.  That was also about $50 million ago.  Now that the film has crossed $200 million worldwide, Paramount and Skydance are reportedly in the process of building the scaffolding for another installment.  The previously cited box office target was $250 million, but when you’ve got a proven draw in Tom Cruise (Jack Reacher marks his 19th film to hit that total), it makes those dice easier to roll.  Now that the (anti)hero has been introduced to a wider audience than only those familiar with the Lee Child novels, Deadline reports that the studios are at least running the numbers on the potential franchise.  Let us know if you think they should go ahead with another Jack Reacher in the comments below!