They worked so well together on Edge Of Tomorrow that Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman quickly reconvened (well, after the star had shot Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation) for another collaboration, drug drama Mena. The pair has their eye on a third project, digging out a sci-fi tale that has long been sitting on Liman’s To-Do list.
Now seemingly titled Luna Park, the film initially blipped news radars back in 2007, when Liman first set it up at Paramount and bagged Jake Gyllenhaal to star. Paramount got the project in its divorce from DreamWorks, but despite script passes from the likes of Simon Kinberg, Mark Bowden and Ken Nolan, nothing came of it. Jump in a wormhole to 2011,and it’s back looking likely, with Paramount and Skydance Pictures entering an agreement to co-finance and such names as Andrew Garfield, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Megan Fox and Olivia Wilde bandied about as possible leads. Yet despite an actual greenlight from the studio, the wheels came off when the budget rocketed past $100 million, and metaphors started mixing all over the place.
Cruise’s interest and partnering with the director to kick development back into gear, could certainly put things back on track, though Paramount and Skydance aren’t currently involved. Chances are everyone will see how the latest script turns out, with the story still following a group of former space-types travelling the world in an attempt to steal equipment that would let them rocket to the moon to find an energy source. And the final piece of the puzzle they need? A former NASA worker. If Ridley Scott’s **The Martian **is a big hit, this could stand an even better chance of finally leaving the launch pad. No writer is mentioned, though we do wonder if Christopher McQuarrie's phone has been ringing recently...
As for Mena, that will hit our screens on January 20., 2017.