Tom Cruise has snagged the rights to a recent New York Times Magazine article about Chunnel stowaways.

Variety says Cruise and his producing partner Paula Wagner purchased Peter Landesman's article "The Light At The End Of The Chunnel" and hope to turn it into a big-screen drama.

Landesman will write the script for the project. It tells the true story of desperate illegal immigrants who risk crippling injuries and death to stowaway on high-speed trains that pass between France and England via the rail tunnel underneath the English Channel.

"The Chunnel is deadly and thrilling because those trains are so lethal, but the subject matter also reflects post-911 political realities," he told Variety.

"It has been a known pit stop for Al Qaeda, because refugee status offers perfect cover. There are a lot of timely issues, but behind it is a redemptive story."


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