The actor has been linked with several projects since finishing Eyes Wide Shut for Stanley Kubrick.

No details have yet been released about the movie, which is being produced by Mark Johnson of Rain Man fame.

Cruise is also in line to begin work before the end of the year on a sequel to his hit Mission:Impossible.

Spielberg : 'I'm only holding a mirror up to what really took place'

Spielberg defends violence in new film

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg has been defending "grisly" scenes in his latest World War II epic, Saving Private Ryan.

Starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon, the film follows a team of soldiers trying to rescue one man after all his comrades have died in combat.

Spielberg has defended realistic scenes of violence including American soldiers shooting prisoners of war. "I'm only holding a mirror up to what really took place," he told critics.

Sir Anthony Hopkins stars in US no 1 film, The Mask of Zorro

Zorro slashes to the top of the charts

The Mask of Zorro has swept to the top of the American Top 10 movie chart on its opening weekend.

The romance-adventure starring Antonio Banderas and Welsh duo Sir Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta Jones has made £17.5m in its first week.

Boosted by some of the best Hollywood reviews since The Truman Show, it knocked Lethal Weapon 4 off the top.

Zorro opens in the UK on December 11.

Quaid couldn't say no to old favourite, The Parent Trap

Quaid convinced by women's film advice

Dennis Quaid says he could not say no to his latest movie role, as the divorced father in a remake of The Parent Trap.

The star told Cosmopolitan magazine that every woman he knew insisted the role was a must, including his wife: "Meg was like, 'You have to do it'."

Johnny Depp third time lucky with Tim Burton

Scissorhands team are together again

Johnny Depp is to work with director Tim Burton for the third time, on the romantic horror film Sleepy Hollow.

Depp, who starred in Burton's Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood, is to play teacher Ichabod Crane in the adaptation of Washington Irving's classic novel, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Christina Ricci is the leading contender for the female starring role of Katrina Van Tassell in the tale of the headless horseman.

Banderas devoting time to the Phantom project

Banderas: I quit Turkish film for Phantom

Antonio Banderas has been giving his reasons for pulling out of the film about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.

He claims he wants to devote his time to preparing for the film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera.

His decision to quit coincided with protests from Greek-Americans. Director Tarquin Olivier, son of Laurence, said: "It isn't honourable for a minority to block artistic expression."

Minnie Driver will be the voice behind Princess Monoke

Minnie is driving force in Japanese hit

Good Will Hunting star Minnie Driver is to provide one of the voices for the English language version of the Japanese blockbuster Princess Monoke.

She will join Claire Danes and Gillian Anderson from The X-Files as voices of the heroines in the animated film.