Hanks Plays Catch, Cruise Warms Up to Cold Mountain

August 29 -- As if the combo of Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio weren't potent enough already, now Tom Hanks is negotiating to join them in Catch Me if You Can. Hanks would take over the role of an FBI agent on the trail of DiCaprio's teenage con man. James Gandolfini was once attached to the role, but he dropped out after the project foundered as it passed from one director to another.

Now, with powerhouse Spielberg at the helm, the project is moving full speed ahead.

Cruise Eyes Civil War Role Another A-list Tom, Tom Cruise — who just wrapped Minority Report, his first film with Spielberg — is contemplating working with another Oscar-winning director, Anthony Minghella.

While no one's sitting down to haggle over salaries or logistics yet, Cruise has reportedly expressed interest in playing the lead in Cold Mountain for the English Patient director.

The lead role is that of a wounded Confederate soldier in the final days of the Civil War who leaves what seems to be his deathbed to walk home to North Carolina and the woman he loves.

In the small, small world that is Hollywood, Hanks was previously mentioned for the plum lead role, as were Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and Daniel Day-Lewis.

Cate Blanchett, who worked with Minghella on The Talented Mr. Ripley, was floated as a possible candidate for the role of the soldier's wife.