Freeman joins Cruise in 'Oblivion'

Coming off the hit Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Tom Cruise's next film, tentatively titled Oblivion, will co-star Morgan Freeman, it was announced February 9 by The Hollywood Reporter.

The sci-fi action film (formerly known as Horizons) follows the veteran soldier in a post-apocalyptic Earth who is exiled to a planet to hunt down the remaining aliens. An unexpected arrival causes him to question his mission and himself.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski (Tron:Legacy), the film also features Andrea Riseborough (W.E.) and Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace).

Variety reported on Twitter that "Morgan Freeman will play Malcolm Beech, the leader of the human resistance on Earth."

The film is due out in July 2013.

Freeman will be seen in theaters later this summer reprising his role as Lucius Fox in The Dark Knight Rises and Louis Leterrier's heist movie Now You See Me.

Cruise will next appear in Rock of Ages as Stacee Jaxx on June 15 and One Shot, based on the Lee Child's crime novels, in February 2013.

RC