Deadline exclusive report:

Sources tell Deadline that Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment are in negotiations for an untitled Alejandro G. Iñárritu film starring Tom Cruise. The project would mark Iñárritu’s first English-language pic since his 2015 smash The Revenant.

The film is produced and directed by Iñárritu with a new script he co-wrote in 2023 with Sabina Berman as well as Alexander Dinelaris and Nicolas Giacobone, his co-writers on Birdman, reuniting a decade later. This also marks the first film for Cruise (who will also produce) following the announcement of his strategic partnership with Warner Bros last month. It’s expected Legendary will also produce.

This project is being treated as top secret, with no plot details available other than it being a new original story written by Iñárritu. What is known is that the Oscar-winning director has been taking meetings with a select few actors in recent weeks, with Cruise being one of the first. The A-list star has been hungry to find that next project and moved quickly to get a meeting with Iñárritu once he was made aware the director was moving forward with his next big studio film. As soon as the meeting finished, Cruise was on board.

The project fits in with what Cruise, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and WB studio chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy had in mind when the movie star signed his strategic partnership last month, specifically something that is both original and meant to be seen on the biggest screens around the world.

The film would mark Inarritu’s first major studio film since directing The Revenant, which not only went on to gross more then $500 million at the worldwide box office but also led to his second straight Best Director Oscar win (and Leonardo DiCaprio’s first win for acting). Iñárritu took a break after an exhausting stretch that also included directing his Best Picture winner Birdman. He had been toying with some ideas in 2019 but ultimately turned his attentions to his passion project Bardo at Netflix and tabled his next big studio pic till now.

As for Cruise, while he had spent the past decade making blockbuster tentpoles like his Mission: Impossible films and Top Gun: Maverick, he never has shied away from challenging himself with top-tier directors such as Stanley Kubrick and Paul Thomas Anderson. While Cruise hasn’t won an Oscar, he has earned four nominations, three of which came for acting, and given Iñárritu’s track record of delivering Oscar noms to actors who have starred in his movies, Academy voters are sure to take notice once this film makes it to theaters.

Cruise and Iñárritu are repped by CAA.