Cruise May File Tardy Report to Spielberg

March 16 -- Steven Spielberg may be wishing that his sci-fi thriller Minority Report were about cloning instead of mind control.

Production on the futuristic flick, which was due to start next week, is reportedly in trouble because leading man Tom Cruise is still wrapped up filming Vanilla Sky for Cameron Crowe. Sound familiar? It should — the same thing happened when Cruise's Mission: Impossible 2 was pushed back due to the epic shoot of Eyes Wide Shut.

Cruise's current back-to-back productions are reportedly overlapping due to the demands of the various awards shows — Crowe was nominated by the Directors Guild of America for Almost Famous and his screenplay was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award, a Golden Globe, and an Oscar — and because of an increased need for privacy for the divorcing actor.

According to the New York Post, protecting Cruise and his co-star, Penélope Cruz, from intense media interest has resulted in several lost days on the set. Earlier reports had Cruise working extra hours on the film after filing for divorce from Nicole Kidman, his actress-wife of 10 years.

Knocking reports that Spielberg was fuming at Crowe for losing half a day's shoot to the DGA awards last Saturday, the director's rep told the Post, "The schedule Cameron had on Vanilla Sky was something everyone knew about. Steven can't be upset about the Directors Guild awards because while everyone else got there at 5 or 6 p.m., Cameron showed up at 8 p.m. because of shooting."

Still, there may yet be occasion for tempers to flare: Spies tell the Post, "Vanilla Sky has not wrapped yet and they still have a way to go." Minority Report is officially scheduled to start shooting March 22 and to continue until the end of June, or just before the potential actors' strike hits on July 1.

ShowbizIreland.com reports that Irish actor Colin Farrell is "stranded in Los Angeles" waiting to hear when to report for duty on the Spielberg thriller.

Minority Report has already been delayed several times, due to the extreme difficulty of clearing room in its superstar director's and lead actor's schedules.