Variety reports Tom Cruise is the new take on the 1957 Western 3:10 to Yuma, which James Mangold will direct this summer, with Cathy Konrad producing for Columbia Pictures.

Cruise has not yet had a meeting with Mangold. The actor became interested in the picture after Stuart Beattie, who penned the Cruise-Jamie Foxx starrer Collateral, turned in a rewrite of the script by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. Word is that Cruise is interested in playing the villain, who is being brought to justice by a lone lawman.

Also high on Cruise's radar is Two Minutes to Midnight, a drama at Fox that Adrian Lyne is ready to direct about a divorce lawyer whose wife is kidnapped. He is ordered to find his wife by 11:58 or kill himself. Sheldon Turner wrote the script.

The other most mentioned candidate is Fool's Gold, a Warner Bros. drama about a divorced couple who rekindle romance during a treasure hunt. Andy Tennant is ready to direct a script by John Claflin and Daniel Zelman.

Cruise is expected to make a decision within the next two weeks.