AceShowbiz -

Eager to have a Hollywood household name to headline the project, Columbia Pictures is reported to plant hope on Tom Cruise to play the titular character in its spy-thriller feature "Edwin A. Salt", setting it as a potential vehicle for the mega-star.

Written by Kurt Wimer, project concerns Salt, a CIA agent who is fingered as a Russian sleeper spy and gets chased by superiors who are convinced he is out to assassinate the president. Eluding the capture, he then sets out to reunite with his family while struggling to prove someone else is the traitor.

Apart from Cruise, Columbia is also holding negotiations with "Hotel Rwanda" director Terry George to take on helming matters on the flick, set to be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Sunil Perkash. George, an Irish filmmaker of Belfast native, recently finished production on Focus Features' "Reservation Road", slated to hit theaters on November 19 this year.