Jolie's 'Salt' recruits leading man

Liev Schreiber is in talks to star opposite Angelina Jolie in espionage thriller Salt.

According to Moviehole, the actor will play Ted Winter, a colleague of Jolie at the CIA. The story centres on a spy who is accused of being a Russian sleeper agent, and must avoid capture long enough to prove her innocence.

Tom Cruise was previously attached to the project but dropped out, fearing the role was too similar to his Mission: Impossible character Ethan Hunt. Kurt Wimmer has since retooled the screenplay to suit Jolie.

Filming is slated to begin next month in New York under the direction of Phillip Noyce. It will be his second film with Jolie, having worked with her on 1999's The Bone Collector.

Schreiber can next be seen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, released in May.