Tom Cruise has decided it's his turn to get in on the comic book action -- and he's teaming up with Sam Raimi to do it. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the duo is setting up the DC/Wildstorm comic series Sleeper at Warner Bros. At this point, Raimi is only producing, but Cruise is hoping to star.

Penned by Ed Brubaker, Sleeper was a 12-issue series set in the Wildstorm universe, which means it steers clear of all those heroic crossovers. (It actually involves a villain created by Alan Moore, though, which should be a terrific selling point.) It centers on Holden Carver, a man who was fused with an alien artifact that makes him impervious to pain, and allows him to pass that torment onto whoever he touches. Being a sensitive sort, Carver wants to get rid of his powers -- but tough luck, he's working undercover in the Tao criminal organization. There's a Departed-like twist that leaves Carver stranded within the organization -- but he falls in love with one member, Miss Misery, while befriending another, the cuddly Genocide Jones. All the while he's torn between the work he's doing, his powers, and his relationships with unsavory people.

Sleeper has been embroiled in complicated rights issues, having been set up at several different studios over the years. Warner Bros, post-Watchmen lawsuit, is being extra careful to make everything black and white this time -- and Cruise's interest has already spurred the detangling process. (Which is kind of funny, if you remember the rumors that he was in the running to play Oxymandias -- and Adrian's fascination with how Alexander the Great undid a complicated knot. Wheels within wheels!)

I know there's some Sleeper fans out there -- it's one of those quiet, but well received books that never get enough attention. How do you feel about Cruise playing the lead?

Having just watched Tropic Thunder last night, my head is half full with Tom Cruise's performance. I won't spoil it, but I will say that he's got more than just a brief blip in the film, and at times, the Scientology stigma that's plagued him lately just dropped away. Of course, that led me to the conclusion that he needs more comedy to get his career back on track, but while he IS starting a Food Fight, he's also looking for more spy action.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that he's in negotiations to star in the remake of the French spy thriller The Tourist. This is the feature that Bharat Nalluri signed on to direct in June, that focuses on an American tourist who becomes a pawn in a female Interpol agent's dangerous game. Basically, a money launderer changes his name and face, but this tourist looks like the guy, and is brought into the mess and set up as the bait.

Personally, I wish he'd just stick with the laughs right now, but what do you think? Would Cruise make good bait? And check out our recent What Should Cruise Do Next Poll where 47% of you currently feel he should do a comedy.

UPDATE: Cinematical has been given this brand new still from the film, which shows Cruise without the eye patch.

MGM seems to be trying to reverse the effects of the doomsaying that circulated about Tom Cruise and Bryan Singer's Hitler-assassination-attempt thriller Valkyrie in the spring, culminating in the announcement that the movie was moving from December 2008 to President's Day 2009. That was received as a surrender, a sure sign that the studio had no confidence in the film and was doing damage control by moving it out of harm's way. Now, following some successful test screenings, MGM has reversed itself and is moving Valkyrie back into the heart of Oscar season: December 26, 2008. Apparently, though, the studio still doesn't think it has awards potential, and is making the move because it thinks Valkyrie will do well in the Christmastime marketplace.

I'm sure positive test screenings did have a lot to do with MGM's decision, but I think it's a smart move because it's great spin control. The press loves to read the tea leaves of studio behavior, and will see this as a major vote of confidence. I suspect the buzz on Valkyrie will seriously improve now that it is no longer the subject of what was perceived as a February dump.

For my part, I don't care about Tom Cruise or his silly eyepatch, but I have a lot of trust in Bryan Singer. The man can make a good mainstream thriller, and I don't see why Valkyrie should be any exception. I think a lot of the "bad buzz" (such as Roger Friedman randomly attacking the film) is just Cruise-bashing, which may be justified but probably shouldn't extend to his movies.

You know how they say the way to a man's heart is through food? Well, when you're an actor who's fallen from grace, then the way back into the hearts of your audience is through comedy. AND ... if you really want to go berserk, you choose a film that combines food and comedy! Wham! Welcome back to Hollywood Mr. Tom Cruise. Yup, The Hollywood Reporter tells us Cruise is enjoying all the buzz surrounding his scene-stealing cameo in Tropic Thunder and is now "loosely attached" (ie: the Oscar wind can blow and knock him right off) to the comedy Food Fight.

Should he remain this film's star, Cruise would play a snooty New York chef who, for some odd reason, is forced to cook in a school cafeteria. Steven Brill was originally in talks to direct the film, but they've since gone on to other candidates (one imagines Cruise wasn't too keen on working with the dude behind Without a Paddle and Drillbit Taylor). As of now, Adam Brooks (Definitely, Maybe) is attached to pen the script. Food Fight is just one of several projects Cruise is "loosely attached" to, as the world is still waiting to see what the man takes on following his stint as an eye patch-wearing Hitler assassin in Bryan Singer's upcoming Valkyrie.

Remember how we told you about six weeks ago that it looked like Tom Cruise's next project would be an espionage thriller called Edwin A. Salt? In fact, the news was that Cruise was going to do Edwin instead of the political thriller The 28th Amendment. Well, now it looks like he's not doing either one. He's changed his mind on Edwin, and now the star of the film is going to be ... Angelina Jolie.

I'm not sure I would have considered Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie interchangeable, but that's Hollywood for you. According to Variety, Cruise was the latest in a long line of actors who have expressed interest in the project over the years, and after he backed out, Jolie threw her hat in the ring. The deal is pretty much set, and it was thrown together very quickly. I guess when Angelina Jolie says she wants to headline your spy thriller, you bring some people in over the weekend to hammer out the details.

The screenwriter, Kurt Wimmer, will make adjustments in the script to accommodate the protagonist's new gender, and obviously the title will have to change slightly. (Edwin A. Salt = Edwina Salt?) But considering Jolie has already played an action hero successfully in Mr. & Mrs. Smith and this summer's Wanted (pictured), I suspect all that'll really be necessary is a find-and-replace search of the character's name. It's not like Wimmer will need to incoporate a scene where the spy gets her nails done or goes shoe shopping.

So now the question is: After next year's Valkyrie, what will Cruise's next project be? I think Edwin would have been a great fit for him. Of course, f I were the one making Cruise's career decisions, a lot of other things would be different, too, so never mind what I think.

Honestly, by now, I think we've all lost that lovin' feeling.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least to hear that folks were mulling a sequel to the 1986 romantic fighter jet flick. Not only are sequels to older films hot these days (see: Indiana Jones 4, Rocky 6, Die Hard 4), but Tom Cruise could provide a real boost to his rep if he were to revisit the character that kinda made him. Whether or not it would actually turn out to be a good movie is a whole different conversation. First off, according to those extremely reliable cats at The Sun, a script outline for Top Gun 2 is done and "movie bosses" want Cruise to star.

Apparently a source said this about the plot: "The idea is Maverick is at the Top Gun school as an instructor - and this time it is he who has to deal with a cocky new female pilot." Ooohh, original ... and spicy! It's like Karate Kid 4 meets A Really Big Paycheck for Tom Cruise! And yet ... we'd all still see it. Why are we such suckers? We currently have no idea how real this rumor is, so for the time being I wouldn't exactly break out into song and dance. Maybe it'll happen, maybe it won't.

What say you? Could this be the sequel we've subconsciously been waiting for our entire lives?

We reported several weeks ago that Tom Cruise was all but confirmed to play the U.S. president in The 28th Amendment, a thriller that was to be directed by Phillip Noyce and co-star Denzel Washington. But now Variety has delivered a hold-your-horses on that story, saying Amendment is being set aside in favor of something else: an espionage thriller called Edwin A. Salt.

This one will star Cruise as a CIA agent accused of being a traitor. He has to go on the lam long enough to clear his name, find the real bad guy, etc.; you know the drill. The film has been in the works as a star vehicle for Cruise for some time, with Terry George and Peter Berg at various times attached to direct it. (The screenplay was written by Kurt Wimmer, author of the recent flop Street Kings.) Now it looks like the reins will go to Noyce, who previously made the action flicks Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.

The 28th Amendment sounds fine, and no doubt it will still get made with a different director and co-star for Denzel. But I really like the sound of Edwin A. Salt. Noyce is a very solid director, with 2002's double-whammy of Rabbit-Proof Fence and The Quiet American still looming large in my memory, and he's generally made serious, respectable films (Sliver notwithstanding). We don't know yet how Cruise's troubled Valkyrie will turn out, but Edwin A. Salt -- a heroic role guided by a smart director -- could be a wise move for his next project.

On the heels of the terrible Universal Studios fire comes word of another landmark movie location gone up in flames. San Diego's Kansas City Barbeque, which can be seen in Top Gun (watch one of its memorable scenes, dubbed in Italian, above), was been gutted by a fire that started yesterday in an open cooking pit. According to the AP article reporting on the fire, the restaurant was used for the scene in which Maverick (Tom Cruise) first picks up Charlie (Kelly McGillis) by singing "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," but this is incorrect (that scene was shot in Coronado, at the Officer's Club at Naval Air Station North Island). Kansas City Barbeque was used for the above scene in which Goose (Anthony Edwards) and Maverick are singing "Great Balls of Fire," as well as the final scene when "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" is playing on the jukebox.

The restaurant had capitalized on the fact that Top Gun was filmed there, and as you can see on its website, people referred to it as the "Top Gun Bar." You could even purchase Top Gun merchandise there and see props from the film, including the piano that Goose plays on and the jukebox from the end. Although the fire was reportedly extinguished in only 20 minutes, the restaurant has been destroyed and apparently those props are now lost forever.

Tom Cruise may be guilty of some odd public antics -- but he isn't guilty of photo fudging. Last week, we reported on Slate's little expose, where they examined a publicity photo released by United Artists. According to their graphic experts, the photo of Claus von Stauffenberg had been altered to better resemble Tom Cruise.

However, Yahoo! Movies now says Slate has been forced to retract the story. It turns out they were comparing the wrong photos -- they used one from the AP, as opposed to the Getty photograph United Artists used. Unfortunately, Slate didn't search all available archives for the photo before making their assertion.

United Artists is understandably upset over the slanderous claim. "The picture United Artists used of Colonel Stauffenberg can be found all over the Internet," said Valkyrie co-writer and producer Chris McQuarrie. He added that it would be much easier to "alter Tom Cruise" than to doctor "every available picture of Claus von Stauffenberg."

Now, with all due respect, I politely disagree with McQuarrie that the photo used by United Artists is easy to find. When this story first broke, I did my own Google search out of curiosity. The most readily available photo of von Stauffenberg is the one accompanying this post. It is also the first image Getty produces when you search their archives. The only site that produced the same photo was Spartacus Educational, and even then I wasn't sure, as the UA version seemed so much cleaner.