In the wake of the departure of director Vadim Perelman from Atlas Shrugged, and the resulting stall in production, Angelina Jolie has said she will replace Tom Cruise as the lead in the upcoming thriller Edwin A. Salt. No word on what impact this will have on Atlas Shrugged. Atlas Shrugged is the adaptation of the 1957 epic novel Atlas Shrugged written by Ayn Rand.

The film is still in pre-production and was a year or two away from completion. Although Angelina Jolie has confirmed that she will play the main character of "Dagny Taggart," an industrial executive who struggles to keep her company alive, she has signed for the lead role in Edwin A. Salt, replacing Tom Cruise. Russell Crowe is being considered for the role of "Hank Rearden" in Atlas Shrugged.

• Michael Burns of Lionsgate: "It's in active development—I'm reading the script. The challenge has been whether it's one or two movies. We're finding consolidation, trying to get set pieces and other moving parts working together, trying to get the essence of the book."
• Michael Burns of Lionsgate: "It's one of my favorite books—with some of the richest, most colorful characters of any book. I read it when I was in the ninth grade and it just stuck with me. I can still vividly remember specific scenes in the book. I can't wait to see what (director Vadim Perelman) does with them."