Three pix atop list for Cruise

Thesp set to go back into battle

By MICHAEL FLEMING

Tom Cruise may be ready to get back to work.

Cruise is looking at three pics: two from majors (Warner Bros. and Fox), and one that's being mobilized independently.

The indie appears to be the favorite: "Lions for Lambs," a political drama revolving around a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. Scripted by Matthew Carnahan ("State of Play"), the project is shaping up with Robert Redford likely to direct as well as play a role.

Cruise is being courted to play a congressman and Meryl Streep for a role as a journalist.

Cruise is also eyeing "The Ha-Ha," a Chuck Leavitt-scripted adaptation of a Dave King novel at WB. The actor would play a Gulf War vet rendered mute by his injuries who's charged with the care of a 9-year-old whose mother goes AWOL.

The actor's also been talking to helmer Spike Lee about "Selling Time," a Fox drama about a man who sells back chunks of time in his life for a chance to relive and change the worst day of his life. Lee has met with Cruise several times and is working on a rewrite of a script by Dan McDermott.

If Cruise agrees to star in one of the pics, the project would mark the actor's first vehicle since he and C/W partner Paula Wagner left Paramount in August to make an overhead and potential funding deal with Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, NVR chair Dwight Schar and Six Flags prexy-CEO Mark Shapiro.

There are no guarantees on any pic. In February, Cruise looked seriously at a trio of films, none of which he took.

He was courted for the James Mangold-directed "3:10 to Yuma" (which now stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale); the Andy Tennant-directed WB "Fool's Gold," which now stars Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson; and the Fox thriller "Two Minutes to Midnight," which is still in development at the studio.

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