Tom Cruise is going to be spending the bulk of 2012 working on two sci-fi projects, and he’s adding some interesting co-stars as both “Oblivion” and “All You Need Is Kill” gear up.
First up, Deadline reports that Oscar winner and all around badass Melissa Leo has stepped aboard the already impressive cast of “Oblivion.” Production is underway on the film from “Tron: Legacy” helmer Joseph Kosinski (based on his graphic novel) and it features Cruise as a drone repairman in a post-apocalyptic future where Earth has become uninhabitable and overrun with alien Scavengers, who encounters a mysterious woman who changes everything. Olga Kurylenko plays Cruise’s wife, Andrea Riseborough is the mystery woman, and Morgan Freeman and “Game Of Thrones” star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau round out the cast. No word on Leo’s role, but this is her first big step into tentpole territory, and we really hope she’s given a meaty part to play and that she doesn’t get lost in the all whizbang special FX.
Once Cruise is done on “Oblivion,” he’ll team with Doug Liman on “All You Need Is Kill,” which is aiming for a fall shoot. The long-gestating adaptation of the Hiroshi Sakurazaka novel follows a soldier in an alien war who finds himself living his last day in battle over and over again after being caught in a time loop, becoming a better soldier along the way. It has been moving in fits and starts for a while now, but it seems feelers are already going for casting. Forbes caught up with rapper/actor T.I. at SXSW (via Movies) and he dropped a little nugget that he was doing a movie with Cruise and Liman, so yeah, put together those pieces. He also teased that Marvel was approaching him about his availability but he wouldn’t say for which character or what property….Luke Cage maybe? Let the nerd speculating begin. You can watch his interview below.
“Oblivion” arrives on April 26, 2013. No date has been set yet for ‘Kill.’