Clint Eastwood's take on A Star Is Born may have had a female lead from the get-go in the form of Beyoncé Knowles, but it hasn't been so lucky locking in a lead actor.
Tom Cruise is the latest name to enter talks for the role, so perhaps the project's luck is about to change.
Cruise would play the washed-up musician who acts as a mentor/love interest to Knowles' rising star, whose career takes off while his further disintegrates.
If it sounds familiar, it might not just be because The Artist reworked a very similar formula: this version of A Star Is Born would actually be the third remake of the 1937 original.
Cruise has two major sci-fi projects on his plate at the moment - Joseph Kosinski's Oblivion , and Doug Liman's We Mortals Are - so will he be too busy for this one? For the chance to work with Eastwood, we're willing to bet Cruise would be happy to shuffle his diary around a bit.
If he were to sign on here, it would make for another interesting step in the rebirth of his own star. Since scoring his biggest ever box-office hit with Mission: Impossible 4 , Cruise has been steadily working on reinventing himself, particularly with polar opposite roles in One Shot and Rock Of Ages .
Oh, and it'll surprise absolutely no one to discover that there are plans to follow Ghost Protocol 's success with a fifth Mission: Impossible instalment .
Before Cruise came in for consideration, A-listers including Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and Christian Bale have flirted with the role. Until someone signs on, we won't have a clear picture on a release date.
