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Phillip Noyce Attached to Direct CIA Drama Edwin A. Salt

by Alex Billington
July 1, 2008
Source: Variety

Australian filmmaker Phillip Noyce (seen above) is in negotiations to direct Edwin A. Salt, a drama about a CIA agent, with Tom Cruise potentially starring. The script was written by Kurt Wimmer (of Sphere, Equilibrium, Street Kings). The story focuses on CIA officer Edwin A. Salt, who is accused by a defector of being a Russian sleeper spy. He eludes capture by superiors who are convinced he is out to assassinate the president and attempts to reunite with his family and prove someone else is the traitor. Cruise has been attached since the beginning through various drafts of the script and various directors, but Noyce was only attached recently. There isn't any solid confirmation at this point that Cruise will still star, but at least they've nabbed a solid director to bring the film to light.

Noyce has had quite a history with espionage films, extending back to Patriot Games and Clear and Present Dangers. A few years back he directed Catch a Fire and The Quiet American before that. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, of Transformers and G.I. Joe, is producing alongside of Sunil Perkash. It Cruise does get attached, this sounds like it has the potential to fit within the new generation of CIA films, like the Bourne trilogy before it. Considering Catch a Fire was Noyce's most recent movie in my memory, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but thought the story was weak. However, the direction was great and it ended up an underrated feature. I'd love to see Noyce return to his roots, but Sony hasn't set a start date for Edwin A. Salt yet either.

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