Fresh on the heels of Cruise forging a “strategic partnership” with Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, Warner Bros. and Legendary are in negotiations to acquire a new film from Alejandro González Iñárritu that will star Cruise, sources told IndieWire.
The untitled project marks “The Revenant” auteur’s latest collaboration with his “Birdman” co-writers Alexander Dinelaris and Nicolas Giacobone, with Sabina Berman also sharing a screenwriting credit. Cruise is set to produce along with Legendary.
Plot details are being kept under wraps.
Warner Bros. and Legendary did not immediately respond to IndieWire’s requests for comment.
The film would be Iñárritu’s first English-language feature since 2015’s “The Revenant,” which landed Leonardo DiCaprio a Best Actor Academy Award. Iñárritu’s 2014 English-language “Birdman,” starring Michael Keaton, won Best Picture. He released the Spanish-language passion project “Bardo” on Netflix in 2022.
Cruise, meanwhile, will next be seen in the eighth “Mission: Impossible” film, and a third “Top Gun” movie is also reportedly in the works over at Paramount. IndieWire previously reported that Cruise’s Warner Bros. partnership is not exclusive. Cruise formerly starred in “The Last Samurai,” “Magnolia,” “Eyes Wide Shut,” “Interview with the Vampire,” “Risky Business,” “The Outsiders,” and “Edge of Tomorrow” at Warner Bros. The Iñárritu project would be Cruise’s first feature back at the studio since 2014.
A recent Variety report claimed that Cruise is eyeing a long-rumored “Edge of Tomorrow” sequel at Warner Bros. and was hoping to again work with acclaimed filmmakers like “Magnolia” helmer Paul Thomas Anderson. It seems the Iñárritu collaboration is just the first step in Cruise’s return to auteur form. It’s early days, but the Iñárritu project also sets Cruise up for possible Oscar contention. Actors in Iñárritu films, from DiCaprio to Keaton and Javier Bardem (“Biutiful”) and Sean Penn (“21 Grams”), among others, often feature in the Academy Awards conversation. Cruise’s sole acting nominations at the Oscars — he had one as a producer on “Top Gun: Maverick” for Best Picture — have also been for auteur-driven works, including Oliver Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July,” Anderson’s “Magnolia,” and Cameron Crowe’s “Jerry Maguire.”
Cruise and Iñárritu are each represented by CAA.
Deadline first reported the news.
