Val Kilmer Leaves Collateral

Val Kilmer, who was to have played a leading role in director Michael Mann's Tom Cruise thriller Collateral has left the project in favor of Oliver Stone's untitled Alexander film.

Kilmer's role in Intermedia's Alexander the Great project, currently filming, left him unable to do both projects at the same time. The role he was to have played in "Collateral" is open.

Meanwhile, Dennis Farina is stepping into another of the parts in Collateral, which is a DreamWorks/Paramount co-production.

Shooting starts next month on the Stuart Beattie-penned project, which stars Cruise as a contract killer who forces a taxi driver (Jamie Foxx) to chauffeur him around on a series of hits. Farina will play a detective on the run after Cruise's character. Jada Pinkett Smith and Irma Hall also star.