While we certainly all hope that Tom Cruise will return for more of the newly-revitalized Mission: Impossible franchise, he might also be looking to ramp up the musical portion of his career. No, Cruise isn’t following in the steps of his son to become a DJ (that’s real), but he might just take on the lead role in Clint Eastwood’s A Star Is Born remake. We’ll next see Cruise rocking out as Stacee Jaxx in Adam Shankman’s Rock of Ages, so sure, he could totally be into this project, too.
Deadline Rochester reports that “Cruise is talking to Clint Eastwood about joining Beyonce in A Star Is Born” and because he just “morphed into an Axl Rose-like 80s rock icon in Rock of Ages…he’d be able to handle the singing part of that comes with playing an over the hill musician who helps launch the star of an ingenue he falls in love with and who watches him slide while her star soars.” But despite this completely rock-solid logic, even Deadline says that they “have no idea if Cruise will say yes.” Journalism!
The project was put on the back-burner last summer after Beyonce, who is attached to play the female lead (the star being, you know, born), got pregnant. But now that’s she given birth to baby Blue Ivy (side note: sigh), Beyonce is reportedly ready to start shooting in June.
Despite my snark at the inherent weakness of casting chatter, I actually do find Cruise to be an interesting choice for the role. Of course, much of the film would hinge on his chemistry with Beyonce, so this is a true wait-and-see situation.