Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin Circling 'Rock of Ages'

Marc Stamas/Getty Images

Rumors about who’s joining the cast of Rock of Ages, New Line’s adaptation of the hit  musical about 80s rock, are heating up. Adam Shankman, the film’s director, has even weighed in with an ambiguous message about all the whispered castings.

Shankman tweeted Friday night: “RUMORS: t cruise as stacee, Alec Baldwin as Dennis, Mary j as justice, Gwyneth paltrow as Constance from rolling stone... Sounds crazy :)”

While Mary J. Blige was the first performer to sign to the adaptation and Baldwin reportedly has an offer for a role, the Hollywood game of telephone has been in full gear as far as  Cruise’s and Paltrow’s involvement goes.

But THR can set the record straight on the Cruise front: New Line and the producers -- Shankman’s Offspring Entertainment, Tobey Maguire’s Maguire Entertainment and Corner Store Entertainment -- want Cruise to play Stacee Jaxx, the arrogant and charming rock star at the zenith of this career for the project, set in a legendary rock club facing its demise at the hands of eager developers.

And they’re close to getting him.

No offer has been made but Cruise has been quietly involved for a while now, giving notes of his ideas for the script. A new draft is currently being written to incorporate those ideas and if all goes well, Cruise will sign on.

But don’t count the chickens just yet. Baldwin’s offer shows just how fluid things are with this movie. Baldwin has the offer to play Dennis Dupree, the ex-rocker who runs the Rock of Ages club while he hangs on to his glory days. But New Line first sought Will Ferrell for the part, and he spent some time digesting it before ultimately passing. An offer was the made to Steve Carell.

Third time could be the charm with Baldwin.

Paltrow, who’s been ramping up a singing career with appearances in Glee in advance of her new country music movie Country Strong, has the offer for the character Constance -- a supporting role in which she’d play a Rolling Stone reporter trying to interview Staxx-- but she has yet to read the latest draft herself.