Tom Cruise is out to save mankind in Oblivion. Photo / Supplied
Fans might still love Tom Cruise as an action man but his roles are increasingly off the planet
It's been announced this week that Tom Cruise has signed up for Yukikaze, based on a series of Japanese sci-fi novels by Chohei Kambayashi. Set in the early 20th century, three decades after an alien force, JAM, has invaded Earth through a dimensional porthole, Yukikaze will tell the story of
a group of humans who form a special combat force to eradicate the alien threat on their home planet.
Next year will see the release of All You Need is Kill, another sci-fi flick in which humanity is at war with an alien race known as Mimics. Tom Cruise's inexperienced Lieutenant is forced to fight the aliens and die again and again, living the same day over, in a sort of sci-fi Groundhog Day. Just as Bill Murray had to learn how to love someone other than himself, presumably Cruise has to learn how to kick some alien butt.
But if you can't wait a whole year to catch Tom Cruise: Alien Hunter, then why not toddle off to the cinema right now where you'll be able to watch Oblivion which is set 60 years in the future and sees Cruise as a repairman stationed on a barren Earth evacuated after being taken over by, you guessed it, aliens. But will the Scavs inherit the planet? Or can Cruise stop them?
This is a man who belongs to the Church of Scientology, a religion that believes that Xenu, an evil dictator of the Galactic Confederacy, brought billions of people to Earth (then known as Teegeeack) 75 million years ago and massacred them. Founded by L. Ron Hubbard, who also had an illustrious career as a sci-fi author, it's little wonder that Cruise is such a big fan of the genre.
