A few hours ago Michael Fleming‘s story announced that Angelina Jolie will be taking what was previously thought to be Tom Cruise‘s role in Columbia’s Edwin A. Salt, a high-toned spy thriller that Phillip Noyce will direct. As soon as I saw it on my iPhone, around 4:45 pm today, I e-mailed Noyce to offer congratulations.
It turns out this was Noyce’s first notification that the deal between Jolie and Columbia was signed, sealed and delivered. It took three days to work out the particulars, which is quite fast by Hollywood standards. Deals can take months to cobble together, obviously depending on the particulars. The title will now be “something A. Salt” — the female first name obviously not yet decided. The shoot will hopefully begin in February ’09.
Cruise had actually lost interest in the Salt part because he felt it was too close to his Mission Impossible character of Ethan Hunt.
I’m trying to think of other parts written for guys that women wound up playing, and all I can think of is Rosalind Russell playing Hildy Johnson in Howard Hawks‘ The Front Page.