After being unwilling to pay Tom Cruise his fee of $20 million to star in “Edwin A. Salt”, Columbia Pictures dropped the Top Gun from its spy thriller. Now, after just three weeks of searching they believe they have found the perfect replacement. Turns out, Edwin must be a girl’s name:

Once expected to star Tom Cruise, the Columbia Pictures espionage thriller will be redrafted by screenwriter Kurt Wimmer as a star vehicle for Angelina Jolie. Philip Noyce remains attached as director and Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Sunil Perkash are producing.

Jolie is close to a deal to play the title character, a CIA officer who’s accused by a defector of being a Russian sleeper spy and must elude capture long enough to establish her innocence.

Jolie took a liking to it, prompting the studio’s decision to rewrite it. Sources said the project won’t require that much of an overhaul to suit her.

I didn’t care for Jolie as a spy in the least with “Mr & Mrs Smith”, so I’m rather hesitant in the idea of watching her with another espionage role. However, I do get quite the kick out of Cruise being replaced by a woman so easily.

Watch for a title change, Edna perhaps?, and an attempt to use this as a “return vehicle” for Jolie, says Variety. Uh, didn’t she just help “Wanted” earn $130 million? Doesn’t sound like she really “left” to warrant a “return”.

Source: Variety via Snark Food

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