Tom Cruise was first choice for Brad Pitt’s ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,’ deets inside

Tom Cruise nearly replaced Brad Pitt in Oscar-nominated 2008 film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

The romantic-drama starred Pitt in the lead role with David Fincher directing. The film bagged 13 Oscar nominations, winning three in total.

While the Babylon star, 59, received praise for his stunning performance in the movie, which earned him an Oscar nod for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Cruise was about to play the lead role with Steven Spielberg directing the flick.

Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Spielberg recalled when he and Cruise almost collaborated on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

“Tom [Cruise] and I were friends. David Geffen introduced us when he made Risky Business, when he was a kid. So Tom and I had been friends for many, many years…personal friends.

“We had considered working together. Benjamin Button, we had talked about maybe doing together, long before Minority Report. But nothing quite jelled for either of us. So when Minority Report came along, it wasn’t unusual for me to send him the screenplay. But this is the one he said, ‘Let’s do this together.’”

Besides Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button starred Cate Blanchett and Taraji P. Henson in prominent roles.