Tom Cruise takes a lot of flack, but he probably deserves more credit as an actor. But as a dramatic actor. I’m not sure what he’s thinking here, but TMZ says he’s switching from action movies and tear-jerkers to wacky comedy. Tom is talking to Ben Stiller about co-starring with him in a updated spoof of the classic young readers detective novels “The Hardy Boys” called The Hardy Men.

The comedy is supposed to be directed by Night at the Museum helmer Shawn Levy who was also recently announced as the guy heading up WB’s new movie version of The Flash. That might make scheduling a bit complicated. Hardy Men is supposed to go into production this October. Will he be able to do them both?

Rumor has it that Tom’s interest in doing a Ben Stiller comedy is a PR move. People are making fun of him, so he’s going to show what a great sense of humor he has and make fun of himself. Nobody is better at making fun of Tom Cruise than Stiller. His Cruise impression is infamous. So I guess it makes sense that he’d go to Ben for a little self-mockery. Before getting involved in The Hardy Men Cruise was supposed to have been talking to Ben about another of his projects, Tropic Thunder.