MR. CRUISE GOES TO WASHINGTON, AND HE TAKES MERYL STREEP AND ROBERT REDFORD WITH HIM

LIONS FOR LAMBS: Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, Meryl Streep (Directed by Robert Redford; Written by Matthew Carnahan; UA/MGM)

Just when it seemed life was all play and no work, Mr. Cruise goes to Washington. The deadly serious non-TomKat project casts Cruise as a congressman who has his own reasons for cozying up to an investigative reporter (Meryl Streep). Director Robert Redford performs double duty, playing a professor whose top student goes to war and is wounded on enemy turf. Don’t be surprised if teacher Redford enlists the aid of crusaders Cruise and Streep in a mission to rescue his young friend. In the meantime, it's all quiet on the Holmes front. Opening date to be announced

AND THEN IT'S OFF TO WORLD WAR II HE GOES

THE FEW: Tom Cruise (Directed by Michael Mann; Written by John Logan)

Anyone who knew anything back in the 1930s knew that Hitler was a major menace; yet America was officially neutral prior to Pearl Harbor. This position of neutrality troubled Billy Fiske, who had grown up in Brooklyn, won Gold Medals at the 1928 and 1932 Winter Olympics, attended Cambridge and--in 1939--fibbed about being a Canadian citizen, thereby carving his way into The RAF. That’s how the bravely impatient Billy got caught up in the Battle of Britain and became the first American pilot casualty of World War II. If you think the character of Billy Fiske is made to order for Tom Cruise, you may be right. Tom is preparing to take flight as the true-life hero under the direction of Michael Mann, who directed him with impressive results in “Collateral.” The screenplay is by John Logan, who penned Tom’s showy role in “The Last Samurai.” "The Few" was once slated to be a Paramount production, but since Tom is no longer in bed with that studio, we'll have to wait and see what happens. Opening date to be announced