“Edwin A. Salt,” an espionage thriller slated for 2010 that was to star Tom Cruise, will now have Angelina Jolie in the lead role, according to Michael Fleming at Variety.

Jolie is close to signing a deal to play the lead, a CIA officer accused of being a Russian sleeper spy who has to live the life of a fugitive until she can prove her innocence.

Sounds like a heady mixture of “Mission Impossible” and “The Bourne Identity” but with a woman in the lead. After all, with “Lara Croft” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” under her belt, Jolie has proven herself as an action heroine.

The name “Edwin A. Salt” will now be suitably changed to “Edwina A. Salt”.

Now the only question is whether she will do this action flick or Lionsgate’s “Atlas Shrugged” as her first film after the birth of her twins. Her film, “The Changeling” directed by Clint Eastwood, releases in late October.