Martians may soon invade Rockbridge County.

No need to hide in your basement, though. This is good news.

If the Martians land, they'll likely bring along the creme de la creme of Hollywood: Mr. Tom Cruise.

On Sept. 29, Cruise and Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg toured the county looking for filming locations for scenes in their upcoming blockbuster "War of the Worlds," an adaptation of the 1898 sci-fi novel by H.G. Wells about a Martian invasion.

If the famous duo does decide to shoot part of "War of the Worlds" in the area, it'll mark the second time they've filmed portions of a movie in Virginia. Scenes for 2002's "Minority Report" were filmed in the commonwealth.

During a Wednesday phone interview, Andrew Edmunds, spokesman for the Virginia Film Office, declined to speak extensively about the office's work with Paramount Pictures, the studio distributing the film. The concern, he said, is that Spielberg and Co. might be bothered by the media attention and take the movie to another state. With a major motion picture, Edmunds went on, any number of factors - the media, say, or a change in the weather - could keep Hollywood from coming to town.

"I don't believe they're here until they're on the ground and the camera is rolling," he said.

"What we don't like to do," said Edmunds, "is get people excited and then it fall through and create some disappointment."

On Thursday, after talking with the publicist for "War of the Worlds," Edmunds was able to confirm that the Virginia Film Office "had been scouting with this client, a repeat customer" and that it was "very exciting to be helping him find locations for a piece of this film."

"It's an opportunity for Virginia to keep building a positive relationship with this client," he said.

Jean Clark, director of tourism for Lexington and the Rockbridge area, also spent time assisting the filmmaker.

When Spielberg and Cruise visited the area, she said, the Maury River was high due to rain from Tropical Depression Jeanne. After it receded, location scouts decided it no longer had the flow they needed for a particular scene. But, Clark added, the scouts also have looked at two other possible sites for filming scenes.

In exchange for helping the filmmakers, Paramount sent Clark's office a fall mix bouquet.

"First time we ever got flowers from a major movie company," she said. "It's nice to get acknowledged, to have someone appreciate when you go the extra mile."

Luring the filmmakers to Virginia will have rewards far beyond niceties and a taste of glamour. A locality could keep a quarter to a third of what the filmmakers spend on pre-production work, filming and post-production work, according to Edmunds.

"War of the Worlds" facts

Other adaptations include Orson Welles' famous 1938 radio broadcast (which convinced some terrified listeners that Martians had invaded the planet) and Byron Haskin's 1953 film.

In September, indie-production company Pendragon Pictures announced it had wrapped principal photography on its own adaptation of the film.

It will also star Tim Robbins and 10-year-old Dakota Fanning ("Cat in the Hat").

Other filming locations include Bayonne, N.J., and New York City.

The screenplay is by David Koepp ("Panic Room" and "Mission Impossible").

Cruise may become the highest-earning actor in Hollywood. Rather than a set fee for "War of the Worlds," he will earn 10 percent of the box office take plus a share of profits from DVDs, toys and other movie tie-ins. Experts estimate he could earn $360 million.

It may surpass "Titanic" ($198 million) as the most expensive movie ever made.

-Source: imdb.com