Beaks here...

Though he's evidently on the cusp of a career resurrection thanks to his much-heralded cameo in TROPIC THUNDER, Tom Cruise's comeback movie will not be EDWIN A. SALT. (For the record, I don't think it'll be VALKYRIE either.)

With Cruise out, Sony and director Philip Noyce went scrambling for a replacement, and they ended up with a pretty cool one: Angelina Jolie. Though this will force Kurt Wimmer to pen another rewrite on a script he'd been tailoring for the notoriously finicky Cruise for over a year, Variety is reporting that the alterations won't be too extreme. Having read an earlier draft (FYI, it's about a CIA agent who's forced to wreak Wimmer-ian havoc when he's outed as a possible Russian spy), I can't say I'm surprised; if Salt is still married, they'll obviously have to change up the dynamic there, but other than that... Jolie's whole shtick has been to do what a man does, only sexier. This is perfect for her.

EDWINA SALT should go before cameras in February '09 (according to Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeffrey Wells, who communicated with Noyce this afternoon).