Back in April of 2010, Warner Brothers paid in the “low seven figures” for Dante Harper’s spec script adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need Is Kill. Shortly afterward director Doug Limon (The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Jumper) agreed to shake his camera at it. Then, back in October, Tom Cruise expressed an interest in starring. Joby Harold rewrote the script to age up the lead, and now Variety reports Cruise has agreed to star. We’re guessing he won’t be playing a newly-recruited soldier, as he’s 49 years old. In other news, I suddenly feel very old.
Based on the graphic novel, the original story is in the vein of “Groundhog Day,” with a twist: A soldier in a war against aliens finds himself reliving his last day over and over after being killed. Through the training and battles he experiences in these time loops, he becomes a better soldier. [Variety via ThePlaylist]
They had me at “Groundhog Day”, then kind of lost me at “war against aliens” (there’s an awful lot of that politically correct, can’t-war-with-any-humans-better-make-it-aliens trend lately), then got me back again because punching aliens in the face still sounds awesome, then lost me a little at “Tom Cruise”, then got me back again at the mental image of Tom Cruise exploding over and over, only to return like an action movie Prometheus. Stop toying with my emotions so, Warner Brothers.