Update on Tom Cruise 'Tropic Thunder' spin-off

Tom Cruise's wildly popular extended cameo in Ben Stiller's war satire 'Tropic Thunder' as vulgar studio exec Les Grossman is on the fast-track to his own spin-off movie.

Screenwriter Michael Bacall has told The Hollywood Reporter that the film is in the script stages and three time Oscar nominee Cruise is enthusiastic about it.

Bacall said: "Tom [Cruise] had an incredible idea on how to tell this story, and give it some real emotion and heart. And as soon as he hit on that idea, it was off to the races. But I feel really good about that project, and I hope that it will happen."

The screenwriter continued: "I think people would be disappointed if that character didn’t carry around that explosive rage that we associate with him and that's what makes his performance so enjoyable. But none of us feel like the movie could sustain what was a 90-minute Les Grossman tirade."

"So we want to try and get a little bit of a glimpse of where that rage is coming from. The guy will be a force of nature, but we want to have some kind of emotional connection to him."

Given Cruise's revival at the box office with 'Mission: Impossible 4', a green light is expected once a solid script is delivered. Cruise also briefly returned to the character to perform a dance duet with Jennifer Lopez at the MTV Awards.

Bacall's other recent projects include party comedy 'Project X' and cult TV big screen reboot '21 Jump Street'. Watch the trailer for 'Project X' HERE and '21 Jump Street' HERE on Cinemas Online.

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