Tom Cruise Continues Awesome Streak, Finds a ‘Sleeper’

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 19, 2008

If you had asked me a year ago whether or not I thought I would be sitting here right now writing a full paragraph of text in support of Tom Cruise, poster-boy for the pseudo-religion of Scientology, I would have punched you in the face for asking such a dumb question. Of course not. At that point the life and times of Tom Cruise off-screen were getting weirder and weirder, and his hit making skills seemed to have diminished significantly.

But here we sit, after a series of events that has really had a lot of people, myself included, thinking twice about chastising Cruise. Rumors of a Top Gun sequel and rumblings of a potential fourth Mission Impossible flick have reminded fans that Cruise was once a damn good entertainer, one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars. Then there was his role in Tropic Thunder, which has stunned and illuminated audiences across the country, proving once and for all that Tom might just be in on the joke.

Tonight, we get more news that could help continue Cruise’s rise in the eyes of fans, as The Hollywood Reporter is saying that he is currently working with director Sam Raimi to bring together an adaptation of the comic series “Sleeper,” written by Ed Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips. The DC/Wildstorm property tells the story of Holden Carver, an operative whose fusion with an alien artifact makes him impervious to pain and allows him to pass it on to others through skin contact. He is placed undercover in a villainous organization by an intelligence agency and falls for a member of the group, named Miss Misery.

Cruise is currently loosely attached to star in the lead role, with Sam Raimi and his Star Road Entertainment partner Josh Donen on to produce. Sleeper, which will be developed at Warner Bros., makes for the third property to which Cruise has been attached to in as much as a week. He has expressed interest in working on Tourist with Spyglass Entertainment and the Working Title film Food Fight. All three titles are outside of Cruise’s own United Artists label, a company that saw his longtime producing partner Paula Wagner resign from her post at the head of the studio.

No production timetable has been set at this point for Sleeper, as they have not yet hired a writer or named a director, but the word is that Warner Bros. is looking for this to possibly not only be a star vehicle for Cruise, but a potential franchise.

Is anyone out there familiar with the “Sleeper” series? If so, how do you feel about Cruise starring in an adaptation?

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