Just a few weeks after is was orphaned by Disney, director Joseph Kosinski (TRON: LEGACY) and his much-talked about sci-fi project OBLIVION may not have just found a home, but an A-lister to star in it as well.

Deadline is reporting that Universal is currently the likeliest contender to back and distribute the sci-fi feature, and that megastar Tom Cruise is currently in early discussions to take on the lead role. The film would in turn begin shooting come October of this year, but all hinges on the young filmmaker’s likelihood of shooting the film for around the $100 million mark.

The project itself is penned by William Monahan, and features re-writes by Karl Gajdusek, and is based on a Radical Publishing graphic novel created by Kosinski. In it, the reader is placed in “an apocalyptic future where most of the population lives in clouds above an earth surface that has been rendered for the most part uninhabitable. An earthbound soldier -- stuck there repairing drones that patrol and blast a savage alien life form -- encounters a beautiful woman who crashed in a craft, and they have an experience that forces him to question his world view.”

This would ultimately take the spot of something like AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS, the long-discussed Guillermo del Toro project that Universal had balked at a few months ago. Overall, it is interesting that Disney would let a film go from the mind behind their TRON sequel, but Universal is definitely an intriguing landing spot for this project. 

As a whole, I wasn’t too hot on TRON: LEGACY, but I do actually dig the premise. Cruise is a really interesting addition as well, so hopefully this thing can find its footing, because it has a lot of potential stewing here.

What do you think?