Tom Cruise has been keeping a relatively low profile since the end of his Mission: Impossible franchise, but with his next film, Digger, right around the corner, we'll be seeing and hearing a lot about him as we inch toward October, including what his next project might be.
We'll take this bit of information with a grain of salt, but online scooper DanielRPK is claiming that director Joseph Kosinski is eyeing Cruise—whom he worked with on Top Gun: Maverick and Oblivion—to tackle the lead villain role in his upcoming Miami Vice reboot. The project has long been rumored to star Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther; Sinners) and Austin Butler (Elvis; Dune: Part Two) in the lead roles.
However, before we get too excited about the prospect of Cruise reuniting with Kosinski, Jeff Sneider and John Rocha had some more information on the latest episode of The Hot Mic, and according to their sources, this is absolutely not happening. Both have heard separately that Cruise isn't joining the project, although it's unclear whether he was ever approached or could be in the future.
Sneider also adds another interesting twist to the story. He's actually heard that neither Jordan nor Butler has been officially cast in the buzzy project. Jordan's profile (and fee) has gone up considerably after his Oscar win this past Sunday, and there's no signed deal from Butler either. While it's possible both names are being withheld until the contracts are signed, it seems as though there's still much to figure out before cameras start rolling sometime this summer.
Universal has already dated the Miami Vice reboot for an August 6, 2027, release, so we should get some big casting updates sooner rather than later, possibly even as early as CinemaCon next month, though it's unclear whether this title could end up being delayed.
As for Cruise, he has Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Digger coming out on October 2 of this year, and he has been privately working on a number of different projects in various stages of development. He was most recently developing an underwater horror-thriller with Doug Liman and Ana de Armas, but that project seems to have been put on the back burner for now due to budget reasons, so he may have shifted gears to another collaboration with Christopher McQuarrie. The pair have a number of exciting projects in the works, including an original action-thriller film with franchise potential, an original song-and-dance-style musical, and a film centered around Cruise's breakout Tropic Thunder character, Les Grossman.