Report: WGA near deal with UA

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The union representing striking Hollywood writers is reportedly close to a deal that will allow filmmaker Tom Cruise's company to hire union writers.

United Artists -- the independent production unit of MGM -- is expected to become the first movie company to reach an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America since the writers went on strike Nov. 5, The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

Cruise and his longtime production partner, Paula Wagner, head United Artists. The agreement could be signed Sunday, the newspaper said.

The WGA is also in talks on interim agreements with other independent film companies, the newspaper said, including Lionsgate and the Weinstein Co.

The agreement with UA would allow UA to supply MGM with ready-for-market films. MGM is a member of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, while UA is not.

MGM's chief executive, Harry Sloan, tried to talk Cruise and Wagner out of making an interim deal with the WGA, the Times reported, citing sources.

The guild previously signed a similar agreement with Worldwide Pants Inc., allowing production to resume with guild writers on "Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson."