Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Cruise And Raimi Involved With Sleeper


Sam Raimi and Tom Cruise of all people are going to be involved with the screen adaption of Ed Brubaker's comic book series Sleeper reports THR.

As Tom Cruise goes about writing the next chapter in his career, he's developing an interest in comic book movies

Together with Sam Raimi, he is setting up "Sleeper" at Warner Bros. Cruise is loosely attached to star in the adaptation of the DC Comics/Wildstorm comic that Raimi would produce with his Star Road Entertainment partner Josh Donen.

Written by Ed Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips, "Sleeper," which ran from 2003-05, centers on an operative whose fusion with an alien artifact makes him impervious to pain and allows him to pass it on to others through skin contact. He is placed undercover in a villainous organization by an intelligence agency and falls for a member of the group, named Miss Misery.

Even if Cruise opts not to do "Sleeper," his interest in the project is propelling it forward, despite complicated rights issues that must be sorted out. Raimi and Donen have long been fans of the book, and the project could have found homes at Sony and Regency if those issues hadn't been so complex.

"Sleeper" is a spin-off book from Wildstorm flagship title "WildC.A.T.s" and features characters from another spin-off book, "Gen 13."

The project is being eyed not only as a starring vehicle for Cruise but also as a possible franchise for the studio.

Matt Reilly is overseeing the project for Warners while Russell Hollander shepherds for Star Road. Gregory Noveck oversees for DC. No writer is attached.

"Sleeper" sees Raimi and Donen continuing their company's superhero, which began when they recently set up the superhero story "The Transplants" at Disney.