Cruise to Star in 'War of the Worlds'

NEW YORK (AP) _ ``No one would have believed ... that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligence greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own.'' <br/><br/>``The War

Tuesday, August 17th 2004, 1:39 pm

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ ``No one would have believed ... that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligence greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own.''

``The War of the Worlds,'' the classic H.G. Wells science fiction novel that begins with those foreboding words of alien observation, will be updated by director Steven Spielberg, with Tom Cruise to star, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks announced Monday.

Shooting will begin in November.

H.G. Wells' 1898 novel has been adapted in a 1953 film, a TV series and as an infamous 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles that convinced thousands of listeners that aliens had indeed invaded.

Meanwhile, production for the third ``Mission: Impossible'' film, already in preparation in Berlin, is now set to begin shooting next summer. J.J. Abrams is slated to direct the Paramount Pictures and Cruise/Wagner Productions film.