Cruise to remake War of the Worlds

British novelist HG Wells’ classic tale War of the Worlds is to be brought back to the big screen, it was reported today.

Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner will produce the Martian invasion film for Paramount Pictures with work starting next year, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

It is not yet known whether 39-year-old Cruise will star in the project.

War of The Worlds was previously brought to the screen in 1953 by Paramount.

That film starred Gene Barry and Ann Robinson and won an Oscar for its special effects.

Wells’ novel was published in 1898 and tells the story of an apparently unstoppable Martian attack on Earth.

In 1938, actor-director Orson Welles famously adapted and performed the book as a radio play meant to sound as if it were a live news broadcast and caused a panic on the US East Coast.

Paula Wagner told the trade newspaper today: ‘‘Tom and I have an extraordinary relationship with Paramount. We are delighted to join the studio in producing this classic.’’

Cruise and Wagner previously produced thriller Vanilla Sky and the two Mission Impossible movies for Paramount.