Let's take a quick jaunt in my time travel machine all the way back in time to October 2010. At the time there was a report that there was a possibility that A Few Good Men co-stars Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson were going to team up for a comedy titled El Presidente.. The story was shut down a mere three days later, as reps for the actors said that the deal was a no go. It was the reunion we all guessed would never happen. And yet here we are more than three years later hearing that Tom Cruise is now lobbying hard for Jack Nicholson to join him in El Presidente.
Doug Liman, who worked with Cruise on the upcoming sci-fi thriller Edge of Tomorrow, is now attached to direct the film, and last week he and the star went to Nicholson's home to try and persuade him to star in the movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, in an effort to try and get the One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest actor to sign on Cruise said that he wouldn't do the movie without him. Nicholson is notoriously picky when it comes to doing films nowadays, and actually hasn't been in one since 2010's How Do You Know.
Should El Presidente actually ever get made, Cruise will star as an extremely serious secret service agent who feels he is screwed over when he is assigned to protect America's worst former president - a character described as "an alcoholic and womanizing sleazebag who never won a presidential election but was elevated from VP when the president died." The details of the agent's mission change, however, when a threat is made on the politicians life and they have to go on the run from the bad guys. Last year it was reported that The Campaign director Jay Roach was attached to make the movie, but obviously that's no longer the case.
THR's sources have told them that Nicholson has not agreed to be in the project, but has said that he will read the script. The original screenplay was originally drafted by former Daily Show scribe Dan Goor and In The Loop's Jesse Armstrong, but it has since been given a rewrite by Paul Attanasio (Donnie Brasco, Quiz Show).
Honestly, I'm really hoping that Nicholson says yes to El Presidente. It's a funny premise for a film, I'd love to see Cruise take on more comedy roles post-Tropic Thunder, there are some very talented people involved behind the camera, and it would just be great to see Nicholson do a new movie. My fingers are definitely crossed that the legendary actor likes what he sees on the page and signs on the dotted line.
