Tom Cruise usually doesn’t play a bad guy — and I’m not even sure that’s the case here — but he and United Artists have acquired the rights to serial-killer thriller The Monster of Florence, written by Douglas Preston.

The script will be penned by Valkyrie’s Chris McQuarrie, and Cruise is attached to produce and possibly star, although no word on whether he’d play the killer or the guy going after the killer. The bestselling novel also inspired the Thomas Harris sequel, Hannibal.

The story follows eight grisly double homicides believed to have been committed single-handedly between 1968 and 1985 in and around Florence, Italy. “It’s the biggest movie deal in my life,” said Preston in an Italian newspaper. He also wrote The Relic, which was turned into a movie.

More after the jump…

But back to Cruise. Seeing his turn as an overweight, balding studio exec in Tropic Thunder has restored my faith in his acting abilities. Sure, he makes a great film hero, but it’s great when he can break out of that role and playing something different once in a while.

What do you think? Can you see Tom Cruise as a serial killer?

Image: Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible III, Paramount Pictures, 2006

Share This