If you can't get Tom Cruise, then Angelina Jolie will work in a pinch ... a pinch of salt that is.

The new mother of twins is close to a deal to play the title character -- a role previously desired by Cruise -- in the Columbia Pictures spy flick "Edwin A. Salt," report industry trades.

The movie centers on Salt, a CIA officer who must prove her innocence after being accused by a defector of being a Russian sleeper spy.

Cruise was expected to star, but he's no longer interested. Although other male movie stars were circling the project, Jolie's interest in the film prompted a rewrite.

Besides a title change, not much else will change in the screenplay by Kurt Wimmer. Philip Noyce is still attached to direct.

Jolie has proven her action chops with this year's "Wanted," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and the "Tomb Raider" films. She next appears in the Clint Eastwood-directed drama "Changeling," which will hit theaters in late October.