24’s Surnow to Develop Spy Thriller for Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise needs a hit. BAD. Which might be why he and United Artist are putting their money on former 24 creator/writer/producer Joel Surnow (pictured, left) to develop a project for them. The idea is to have Surnow come up with the idea, a spy thriller, for Martin Campbell (”Casino Royale”) to direct and, Tom Cruise to possibly star, though United Artist wouldn’t confirm that this was a star vehicle for Cruise.

Variety has more:

Surnow will write the film with Michael Loceff, a “24″ co-exec producer.

UA, which is run by Paula Wagner and partially owned by Tom Cruise, has made it a priority to find a commercially viable franchise for Cruise, though the studio wouldn’t confirm whether the Surnow/Campbell project was specifically designed for the “Mission: Impossible” star.

Lakeshore’s Gary Lucchesi and Tom Rosenberg will produce.

I kinda feel sorry for Tom Cruise. His stardom has really taken a hit in recent years, and Hollywood now openly disses the poor guy. But then again, it’s his own fault for choosing movies like “Lions for Lamb” and “Valkyrie”. And seriously, that whole cultish devotion to Scientology is just… nuts.

Still, I’d like to see him back in a good action-thriller ala “Mission: Impossible” or even something like “War of the Worlds”. Leave duds like “Lions for Lambs” to George Clooney, Tom. It ain’t you.