Warner Bros. and Clint Eastwood have had to take it slow putting together the new version of A Star Is Born. While they had Beyoncé committed to the female lead, they’ve had to A) wait for her to give birth and enjoy spending time with new sprog Blue Ivy Carter and B) track down someone to play her older, troubled mentor in the film. A few names have come and gone, but now the studio is reportedly talking to Tom Cruise about taking on the job.

Don't get too excited just yet: according to Variety, it’s still very early days for the discussions, and it’s nowhere near the deal or even negotiation stage. It’s mostly likely a few executives and Eastwood sitting down to dinner with the Cruiser and chatting about the idea. He’s apparently interested, not least because it would give him a chance to work with the gruff megaphone user.

But there is a slight problem in that Mr Tom is a very busy man. He’s finished shooting Jack Reacher adaptation One Shot and starts work on Joseph Kosinski’s untitled sci-fi epic (AKA Oblivion) next week. Once that’s complete, he plans to leap straight into Doug Liman’s All You Need Is Kill. And given that it’s Cruise, he’ll probably also squeeze in climbing a couple of massive buildings while he’s about it. So there may be scheduling difficulties.

It’s all still up in the air for now, in other words. Warners has flirted with the idea of Hugh Jackman, Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio and even Christian Bale playing the aging musician who falls for the younger singer he’s trying to turn into a star. Eastwood is busy killing time starring in his production partner’s directorial debut Trouble With The Curve, but they’re obviously anxious not to leave Star lying around too long.