It seems that Tom Cruise can’t stop making movies right now. He’s got “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” and “Rock of Ages” in the bag, he’s currently shooting “One Shot,” and after that the suddenly busy actor will roll right into the “Tron: Legacy” director Joseph Kosinski‘s “Oblivion.” The movie found one of its two female leads in Jessica Chastain late last month and now a trio of actresses is vying for the other part.
Deadline reports that Hayley Atwell, Diane Kruger and Kate Beckinsale will fly to Pittsburgh this weekend to read for the role.The picture is set in a future where the Earth’s surface has been irradiated beyond recognition and the remnants of humanity live above the clouds, safe from the brutal alien Scavengers that stalk the ruins. But when surface drone repairman Jak (Cruise) discovers a mysterious woman in a crash-landed pod, it sets off an unstoppable chain of events that will force him to question everything he knows. Chastain will play Cruise’s wife (snore) but one of these three will take on the part of the mystery woman who arrives on the uninhabited planet.
It’s a pretty decent line up of contenders. All three carry some tentpole experience under their belt, with Atwell in this summer’s “Captain America: The First Avenger,” Kruger in “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” and Beckinsale in the “Underworld” films, of course. Additionally, Kruger has been competing for a couple of tentpoles of late including “Total Recall” and “Man of Steel” and it seems she’s ready to make a big career jump. And Atwell appeared on Cruise’s radar after being shortlisted for “One Shot.” But if Cruise is looking for an Actress, Kruger is probably the best bet of the three, and if the casting of Chastain means anything, that seems to be the direction the production is going in. But again, who knows at this point as casting tends to be a mercurial sort of business anyway.
Already slated for a July 19, 2013 release, production on the picture is expected to begin in early 2012.