Last week, a report surfaced that offered new insight into Universal Pictures' Monsters Shared Universe franchise, which is being lead by Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan. While last year's Dracula Untold served as a "prologue" for this shared universe, the first full-fledged adventure will be the Untitled Mummy Reboot, directed by Alex Kurtzman, which will start shooting in early 2016. Today we have a new report from Variety, which claims that Tom Cruise is in early talks to star in the Mummy reboot, although reps from both the studio and the actor tell Deadline that he is not in contention to star at all.

The Variety report claims that Tom Cruise won't produce, but he is expected to be involved in the development. Jon Spaihts (Passengers) is writing the screenplay, with director Alex Kurtzman also set to produce with Chris Morgan and Sean Daniel. All of the characters in this monster universe, which includes Dracula, Van Helsing, The Bride of Frankenstein and The Wolfman, are expected to pop up in other movies before coming together in an "Avengers-style tie-in film."

Tom Cruise is currently filming Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, and he is expected to start principal photography on Mission: Impossible 6 in August 2016. The actor was expected to reunite with Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman on an outer-space project entitled Luna Park, but now that the filmmaker is directing Gambit, the actor has an opening in his schedule after Jack Reacher: Never Go Back wraps.

Deadline reached out to reps for Universal Pictures and the actor himself, who both "adamantly" denied Tom Cruise's involvement in the Untitled Mummy Reboot. You may recall that, back in 2012, long before this shared universe was set up at the studio, Tom Cruise was rumored to star in a remake of Van Helsing. That project is now part of the shared universe, with Eric Heisserer and Jon Spaihts recently coming aboard to co-write the script.

Tom Cruise recently wrapped production on Mena, which is set for release in January 2017. He is also reportedly attached to star in the long-awaited Top Gun 2 sequel, and the actor recently said that a sequel to his critically-acclaimed sci-fi thriller Edge of Tomorrow may still happen. Do you think Tom Cruise should star in Universal's Untitled Mummy Reboot?