When does the movie business ever go as planned? Rarely, it seems, as evidenced by the change-ups with the upcoming thriller The Tourist, the remake of the 2005 French film, Anthony Zimmer.

We recently reported that Angelina Jolie had replaced Charlize Theron in the movie, with Jolie joining the already-cast Sam Worthington (who originally replaced Tom Cruise). Then a week later came news that after previously attached director Bharat Nalluri had stepped away from the project, The Lives of Other director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck was being eyed to helm the film instead.

All seemed to be in place and The Tourist was set for an early 2010 shooting start. However, although the latter is still true, there appears to STILL be major change-ups happening, as not only is yet another new director being looked at to now replace Donnersmarck, but Worthington may be getting replaced by Johnny Depp!

This week:

The box office says This Is It; The Tourist finally gets its bags packed; Billy Bob Thornton and Dwayne Johnson go Faster; Ricky Gervais hosts The Golden Globes and DeNiro and Stiller are hanging out with the Little Fockers.

Box Office

Michael Jackson’s This Is It topped the box office over the Halloween weekend with an estimated $21 million. The concert film has made $32 million in the US in the five days since it opened. It’s an okay start for the movie, but not the huge debut that Sony was hoping for. It’s doing twice as well overseas and has brought in about $100MM worldwide so far.

Last week we reported on the possibility of Angelina Jolie replacing Charlize Theron in the upcoming thriller, The Tourist. Along with that news, we also learned that the previously attached director, Bharat Nalluri, had stepped away from the project, leaving the producers actively seeking a new director. And today we get the news that a new director has been found in the form of German helmer Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others).

Variety reports that although Donnersmarck has yet to officially enter into negotiations for The Tourist with Spyglass Entertainment, the talks are expected to happen very soon. Jolie was contacted by the studio a couple of weeks ago about starring in the project in place of Theron, but her involvement was said to be contingent on finding the right director. After meeting with a number of different directors, von Donnersmarck seems to have emerged as the right man for the job, according to insiders.

A couple of months ago we got wind of the news that Terminator Salvation and Avatar star, Sam Worthington, was going to be replacing Tom Cruise in the spy thriller, The Tourist. That’s the male lead sorted out, but what about the female lead? Well, up until this point it was Charlize Theron who was set to play the role, but today we learn – by way of THR’s Risky Biz Blog – that she’s officially stepped away from the project, and word is that Brad Pitt’s even prettier half, a.k.a. Angelina Jolie, is in talks to step in and take her place.

A remake of the 2005 French-language thriller, “Anthony Zimmer“, The Tourist centers on “an American tourist who, on behalf of Interpol, goes undercover to entrap a former lover who’s a suspected global criminal.” If Jolie actually signs on for the role, it will follow her recent spy role in Salt (she, ironically, replaced Tom Cruise in a gender-switched role), with the role here being described as, “one-part seductress, one-part action.”

Credit must really be given to Sam Worthington’s agent. The man really works his socks off for his client.

Hot on the heels of the Australian star being cast in James Cameron’s Avatar, Terminator Salvation and Clash of the Titans comes news that he is set to replace Tom Cruise in The Tourist opposite Charlize Theron.

In the thriller Worthington will play a tourist who is used by an Interpol agent(Theron) to flush out an international criminal.

This week:

Revenge of The Fallen meets Dawn of the Dinosaurs; it’ll take 6 years to see the last Airbender; Adams looks on as Batman fights Marky Mark; George Clooney leaves Warner Bros; The Green Hornet is delayed and Tony Scott, Denzel Washington and Chris Pine are stoppable.

The world’s smallest biggest movie star Tom Cruise is a man who does not make decisions lightly. The couch jumping fiend is still mulling over his next film projects.

Currently Cruise has four potential projects in development, with studios spending HUGE amounts of money paying top-tier writers to help tailor the scripts to meet Cruise’s needs.

The four films in the top gun’s firing line include Motorcade, The Tourist, The Matarese Circle and Wichita (with Vanilla Sky co-star Cameron Diaz). Two potential films that have been dropped from his list of potentials include The 28th Amendment (to be directed by (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck), and the romantic comedy Lost For Words (set to be helmed by Susanne Bier). It really is a war of the words.

It’s Sunday and therefore it’s Weekend Movie News Wrap Up time.

This week:

Baz Luhrmann gets Gatsby; Brian Helgeland adds Salt; Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise believe that four times is a charm and Parmount Pictures finally get to know Jack!

All has been quiet on the Tom Cruise future project front lately, however have no fear! We finally have an update!

Charlize Theron is “in negotiations” to join Tom in The Tourist, an espionage thriller that we told you about way back in August. According to Variety:

“Theron will play a female Interpol agent who uses an American tourist in an attempt to flush out an elusive criminal with whom she once had an affair.”

I never have to worry about writer’s block. Whenever I’m stuck on a story to write abou,t good old Tom Cruise attaches himself to another project.

Now, it’s not like Tom (I write about him so often he feels like a friend) has no intention of making these films – he wouldn’t be so mean. It’s just that in Hollywood things take time and different projects have different gestation periods.

The latest possible film to catch Tom’s eye is Sleeper which is based on a comic book by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.

If you can’t tell from the headline – Sam Raimi will produce and possibly direct.

Tom Cruise – actor, legend, husband, father, religious icon and couch jumper.

Love him or loathe him, Cruise has had an incredible career and you have to admit that his place in film history is secure. However in the last few years the star has had a bit of a rough time, not only from the press, but also by the head honchos in Hollywood.

This week has seen a flurry of Tom Cruise related news, and as Screen Rant’s main Cruise supporter and apologist it has come down to me to report it.

We have seen Valkyrie’s release date change (again), Cruise drop out of Edwin A. Salt, the star realize that he has a love of comedy – as well as thriller and his friend/ mentor Paula Wagner was booted from the United Artists lot.

I’ve been a very busy man this week, so I haven’t been posting that much. That will all change this week, and just to get the ball rolling we have a new and fantastic Weekend Movie News Wrap Up. This week we feature an A-list line up:

George Clooney becomes a Tourist, Harrison Ford dabbles in science, Amanda Peet gets her diary ready for 2012, The Three Musketeers make a comeback (come on – if Stallone can do it so can they!) Liam Nesson and James Nesbitt return to Ireland and Val Kilmer and 50 Cent make sweet music together.