I try and ignore what Variety say when they discuss Tom Cruise and his supposedly next picture as both his Interpol thriller THE TOURIST (co-starring Charlize Theron) and his summer blockbuster THE MATARESE CIRCLE (w/Denzel Washington, directed by David Cronenberg, based on Robert Ludlum's novel) both have firm start dates this year. As far as we are concerned, those are his next two films. So when Variety have a story saying THE 28TH AMENDMENT "has emerged as a strong contender to be one of Tom Cruise's next star vehicles", I presume they are simply juicing up a story to grab our attention. Because if Cruise is still attached to this Warner Bros. thriller (which I don't think he is), then it certainly won't be his next film. Or his one after that. Anyway, the trades mention that German born director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (sounds like a character out of Tarantino's next movie) has become attached to the thriller. He is in talks to direct what would be his first movie since THE LIVES OF OTHERS won the Best Foreign Picture Academy Award in 2006. But as I say it probably won't star Cruise. Back in May last year, we heard THE 28TH AMENDMENT was setup for Phillip Noyce to direct and Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise to lead. But Noyce has gone off to direct SALT (ironically, a project previously setup for Cruise) and Washington and Cruise will instead do a different project together. So I can't see Cruise still being realistically attached to this, unless they have figured out how to clone him. Anyway, written by STAR TREK writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci ten years ago and now being revised, the drama revolves around a U.S. president who discovers the existence of a secret cabal that runs the government and wants him dead. Richard Donner is listed as a producer. Pretty cool sounding movie and an awesome director, let's hope Cruise isn't attached to this, so we can see this one get made quickly.