Cruise 'to make Channel Tunnel' movie

Hollywood actor Tom Cruise is to make a movie about the Channel Tunnel, it was reported today.

Cruise and his partner in CW Productions, Paula Wagner, will focus on how the link between Calais and Dover is used by illegal immigrants to get into the UK.

US showbusiness trade newspaper Variety reports that the film will be based on a recent New York Times Magazine article entitled The Light At the End of the Chunnel.

The article, by journalist Peter Landesman, tells the story of how Middle Easterners stow away for the train’s speedy journey from France to England.

Landesman will write the script for the movie, which will feature an American refugee who helps smuggle immigrants on to the train.

He told Variety: ‘‘The Chunnel is deadly and thrilling because those trains are so lethal, but the subject matter also reflects post-911 political realities.

‘‘It has been a known pit stop for al-Qaida, because refugee status offers perfect cover. There are a lot of timely issues, but behind it is a redemptive story.’’

The news comes on the day the government rejected reports that a deal had been struck to close the Sangatte refugee camp in France.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said there was no agreement to shut the holding centre, which lies close to the Channel Tunnel near Calais.

The camp in northern France has been a source of tension between London and Paris, with the British government and railway executives accusing France of inadequate policing of their side of the Channel Tunnel.