Jolie's Spy Movie Completes Sex Change, Now Called 'Erika Salt'

We've been charting the progress of the movie that used to be known as Edwin A. Salt for about six months. The many angles on this story began with a whisper that Tom Cruise, who had been kinda sorta developing the movie or watching it while it developed or something, was deemed a bad financial fit for the movie, meaning he either wanted too much coin for what his name means on opening weekends these days. The next whisper was that Cruise's friend Will Smith would replace him, kind of an odd choice if you don't want to shell out a lot of money, plus Smith probably wouldn't do that to Cruise. Then it was Angelina Jolie taking over the role - a bold move, no? - and that was followed rather quickly by the news that Jolie wouldn't do it because she wanted to spend time at home, which itself was followed by another announcement that Jolie would, in fact, take the role.So that's where we are. The film has an intriguing premise: A CIA officer is pegged as a Russian sleeper cell agent who's plotting to kill the President. Salt has to clear his (or her) name before the third act of The Shooter breaks out.But what to do with the name? Edwin A. Salt had a memorable kind of simplicity, but that wouldn't work for Angelina Jolie. So instead, the spy-on-the-run flick is now going to be called Erika Salt, according to Cinema Blend. It's a very simple thing, of course, but going with "Erika" instead of "Erica" gives the character and the title a little more of an edge. I dunno how it works; it's psychology, like painting a room soft yellow makes it peaceful.Jolie has been down this road before, and I sincerely believe she's the best female action star on the planet. She sells tickets, she's hot, she can act, her action scenes are as believable as anyone else's, the end. The last we heard, Angelina will be working with director Philip Noyce on Erika Salt, and he's no slouch when it comes to covert missions and all the rest. Plus, he directed a young Jolie in The Bone Collector.I think it's got some potential in the post-Bourne world, so long as they don't try to make it too much of a copycat.

Comments

[JM]

The Bone Collector is one of the worst movies I've ever seen.