Tom Cruise has committed to star in Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi flick Oblivion (also referred to as Horizons). Kosinski was originally going to make the film at Disney, until the Mouse House decided the PG-13 material didn’t fit with their model and dropped the film. They allowed the director to shop the project around, and it landed at Universal with a budget of $100 million. The script, originally written by William Monahan then rewritten by Karl Gajdusek, is based on an idea hatched by Kosinski himself.
The story takes place in an apocalyptic future where humans have been forced to live in clouds above the uninhabitable Earth below. Deadline reports that Cruise will play a soldier stuck on the planet, working on drones that patrol the surface searching out and destroying a “savage” alien life form. Naturally, he meets a woman who crash-lands and gets him thinking about his larger role in life. Production begins this October. The report also states that Cruise has also been mentioned in connection with Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim. More after the jump.
Cruise and del Toro were originally set to team up on the visionary director’s ambitious adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. However, even with Cruise attached to star and James Cameron producing, Universal couldn’t come to terms with the $200+ million budget for the R-rated horror film and passed on the project.
With Madness dead for the moment, del Toro decided to next helm the futuristic monster film Pacific Rim. Charlie Hunnam is set to star, but the report on Oblivion states that Cruise has been mentioned as circling Pacific Rim and is currently “talking” about possibly appearing. While it’s stressed that his participation isn’t certain, it’s definitely a possibility.
Cruise is currently filming Adam Shankman’s musical adaptation Rock of Ages, and will be seen in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol when the Brad Bird-helmed flick hits theaters on December 16th.
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I hope that Tom Cruise does more dramas from now on. He is pigeonholing himself as an actor who just does huge blockbusters.
I’ve always wanted to see him do a movie with Julia Roberts and one with Tom Hanks. They are all incredible actors and it would be amazing to see them bounce off each other in a film.
the biggest problem tom cruise has, i think, is the tom cruise brand. i don’t think he could convincingly do a drama because there’s always the awareness that it’s “tom cruise.” he can’t fade into a character.
yeah but given with the right material, and a great director at the helm, he could use that Tom Cruise persona and knock us out. i was just watching Magnolia the other night.. DAMN! what a great performance!
So… this is a live action remake of Wall-E?
I’d Kosinski to use less known actor.. but old horse to ride.. eh!