Theron, Cruise to Star in 'The Tourist'

Charlize Theron will join Tom Cruise in The Tourist, a remake of the 2005 French thrilla, Anthony Zimmer. Production is expected to begin next spring under the direction of Bharat Nalluri, with a script by Julian Fellowes. Variety says that before The Tourist goes in front of cameras, Christopher McQuarrie will take a look at the script, and we can only guess that's to make it punch a little more like a taut thriller should. McQuarrie is best known for writing The Usual Suspects, but he recently reunited with director Bryan Singer on this winter's Valkyrie, which also stars Cruise.I think the approach Tom Cruise has taken to salvage his career and image has been very intriguing. Following the summer of 2005, which featured the Oprah couch jump and TomKat, Cruise had Mission: Impossible 3, which didn't do the sort of business it should have. He retreated into the front office, taking over an already embattled MGM in 2006. Though that hasn't panned out yet, Cruise isn't giving up the studio. And his choice of films has been kind of out of left field, with Lions for Lambs and Tropic Thunder, and Valkyrie on the way this December. He's not starring in $150 million movies anymore, but the work is at least more interesting if not more profitable.He's great in thrillers, and in this, he'll play an American tourist used by Interpol agent Theron to weed out a criminal she had an affair with. Forgetting about the public perception of Cruise for a moment, this sounds like it has some promise.