Phillip Noyce, the man who saw Jack Ryan through his most memorable big-screen adventures, appears to be heading back to the world of spies.
The Australian director is in talks to direct Edwin A. Salt, a spy thriller which has had Tom Cruise interested in the title role for what seems like forever.
If Noyce takes the gig, he will replace Peter Berg, who left the project a while ago, presumably to focus on his Dune remake.
The film, written by Kurt Wimmer, the director of sneaky Empire fave, Equilibrium, focuses on a CIA agent who is accused of being a Russian sleeper agent. He goes on the run, while trying to clear his name. Very No Way Out meets The Firm, and therefore you’d imagine it’s perfect for Cruise. However, though he’s been circling the project for ages (indeed, from when original director Terry George was on board), he still hasn’t committed.
Columbia, the studio bankrolling the film, also hasn’t committed – to a start date at least. But Noyce’s involvement indicates that things are getting serious. Intriguingly, he and Cruise had been circling a movie called The 28th Amendment at Warner Bros., but it would seem that they’ve decided to put their eggs in Edwin A. Salt’s basket.
More as we get it.