Tom Cruise is moving from rocker in the 1980s to soldier in 2061.
The actor, now filming an adaptation of the Broadway hit "Rock of Ages," has agreed to star in Universal's "Oblivion," an adaptation of Arvid Nelson's graphic novel that Joseph Kosinski is directing, TheWrap has confirmed.
Nelson envisions an apocalyptic future in which the earth has been nearly wiped out by alien scavengers. Humanity has retreated to a space station and the planet is inhabited by aliens. Cruise's character, Jak, is a human who goes to earth to hunt down the aliens.
It's a little dark — and at $100 million, fairly expensive — and Disney, which had acquired the rights to the book, decided the story didn't fit its brand. Universal then snapped it up.
Kosinski, who directed 2010's "Tron: Legacy," is producing in addition to directing. William Monahan wrote, based on Nelson's story, and Karl Gajdusek is rewriting. Barry Levine and Jeffrey Silver are producing.
Production is scheduled to begin in October.
Deadline first reported the story.
