In a dramatic departure from his recent run of large-scale action blockbusters, Tom Cruise has agreed to appear in the new film from Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu.

According to Deadline, Cruise has signed on to star in the film, about which little is known other than that it will be in English and has been written by Iñárritu along with Sabina Berman, as well as Birdman co-writers Alexander Dinelaris and Nicolas Giacobone.

The film is due to be produced by Warner Bros under Cruise’s recently announced non-exclusive contract with the studio, which allows for Cruise to work on projects for other Hollywood entities. A third Top Gun film is in the works at Paramount, and Cruise is believed to currently be filming Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, production of which was delayed by Covid, and which is due for release in May 2025. Cruise is also working “diligently” on a long-gestating project that involves shooting in space.

Alongside his success in action movies, Cruise has a strong record in more dramatic and comedic films. In 1994 he starred alongside Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire, and followed it up with the lead role in Jerry Maguire, for which he was Oscar nominated. In 1999, he appeared in Stanley Kubrick’s final film Eyes Wide Shut, and subsequently received a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. In 2005 he starred opposite Jamie Foxx in Collateral, and played a movie producer in the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder.

Iñárritu, the first Mexican to be nominated for the best director Oscar, released Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths in 2022, and last made an English-language film in 2015 with The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. His films have won eight Academy awards, including three for The Revenant (including best director) and a special achievement Academy Award for the virtual-reality short film Flesh and Sand.