Variety reports that Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise will bring "The War of the Worlds" to the big screen, with Cruise expected to star. Depending upon how long it takes to find a script that both could agree on, production could begin late 2005 on the sci-fi epic based on the classic H.G. Wells alien-invasion novel.

David Koepp ("Jurassic Park", "Mission Impossible") will rewrite a Josh Friedman-penned first-draft script - the property was setup at Cruise-Wagner Productions and Paramount in May 2002, but with Spielberg involved expect Dreamworks to come aboard as a partner.

The famous tale of strange alien creatures in giant spaceships from Mars which attack Earth was first written in 1898 and previously made into a film in 1953, though its most famous adaptation was Orson Welles' radio play version in 1938 which caused public mass hysteria in the US when it aired and many listeners mistook it for a real broadcast about an actual invasion from another world.

Spielberg, Cruise, Paula Wagner, Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald are all expected to be involved in a producing capacity. With the fourth "Indiana" movie on hold, expect this to take precedence next year. Between now and then Spielberg is tipped to be helming the 19th-century drama "The Rivals" and Cruise gets to work on "Mission Impossible III".

Thanks to 'KarlChilders'.