A Change in Gender for Edwin A. Salt

Was someone caught snooping in Brad Pitt’s pile of scripts? I’d be curious to know how Angelina Jolie ended up expressing her interest in a role that was designed for a male lead, and until two weeks back had Tom Cruise in the role. I’ve been reading the trades for a while now, and have no memory of a gender switch occurring during the pre-prod of a high profile project.   

Variety reports that Columbia Pictures have assigned scribe Kurt Wimmer to reshape his original screenplay to fit the new measurements. Edwin A. Salt will fall along Jolie’ body of work that pack heat –made some decent coin in roles where she is packing heat such as the Lara Croft character, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and most recently, Wanted.   

Among the top tier unproduced screenplays as voted by industry folk in the Blacklist gallop poll of 07′,  the title character, a CIA officer who is fingered by a defector as a Russian sleeper spy. Salt must elude capture by his superiors and sets out to reunite with his family and prove his innocence.

Wimmer, who has made a couple of outings as a director with the cult fave Equilibrium and Ultraviolet, is more prolific scribe who writes well in the action/thriller genre — most recently he has been writing cop action pieces as in Street Kings, and the upcoming 09′ release of Law Abiding Citizen. Currently Phillip Noyce is attached to direct the project — let’s hope that it picks up some of the qualities that he project in The Quiet American.