Tom Cruise had recently intended to star in one big-budget sci-fi flick for Universal – Guillermo del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness — but after the studio refused to green-light del Toro’s R-rating and $150 million budget, causing the project to fall apart, Cruise has now committed to another high-priced sci-fi tentpole at the studio. Deadline reports that Cruise is boarding Oblivion from director Joseph Kosinski (Tron Legacy), which was, ironically, another ratings casualty: Disney originally developed Oblivion, then let Kosinski take it to other studios when the PG-13 tone proved at odds with Disney’s family-friendly mandate. The film shoots this October, and Cruise will star as a lone soldier who patrols an apocalyptic Earth and falls in love with a mysterious woman who crashes onto the planet. So it’s WALL-E with people, but a little less adorable, we’re guessing. [Deadline]
