Tom Cruise Seeks to Remake "Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid"

Tom Cruise hopes to remake the classic 1969 western, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, starring himself and his close friend, John Travolta. Cruise got the blessing of Paul Newman, who played Cassidy in the original, just months before he passed away last September.

Cruise intends to produce the remake through United Artists, the studio he jointly owns after he helped to resurrect it as an MGM subsidiary in 2006. The original film garnered four Oscars, and is said to be amongst Cruise's cinema favorites.

Cruise, 46, wants to cast himself as Sundance, which was originally played by Robert Redford. He is hoping to cast Travolta, 55, as Cassidy.

According to a senior executive, Cruise has already begun interviewing screenwriters capable of recapturing the essence of the original.

The exec said:

“It has been a pet project of his that has been on the back-burner for years. But now he’s ready to go, and will most likely happily eschew the enormous salary that he normally commands.”

A source close to the star added:

“Butch and Sundance is a labour of love for Tom. He was eight years old when he saw the original and it made an impression that has stayed with him all his life. He can’t wait to get to work.”

Travolta is also said to be eager to begin shooting, despite still mourning over the death of his 16-year-old son Jett, who died in January in the Bahamas.

Both Scientologists and longtime friends, the two have been "itching to do something big on screen together," commented the source.

There's even talk of a cameo role for Redford, now 72.