Spielberg almost made Benjamin Button with Tom Cruise

London: Director Steven Spielberg says that he almost made `The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button` with Tom Cruise as the title character years before Brad Pitt and David Fincher teamed up to make the movie.

The 64-year-old said the film, based on an F Scott Fitzgerald short story, was almost the first project he and Cruise collaborated on, reported Contactmusic. "Tom and I had been friends for many, many years. We had considered working together. Benjamin Button, we had talked about maybe doing together, long before Minority Report. But nothing quite gelled for either of us," Spielberg said. The filmmaker also said his first choice for `Jurassic Park` was `Indiana Jones` actor Harrison Ford instead of Sam Neill. "My first choice was Harrison. I went to the art department and I had them do a photo-realistic painting of the T-Rex chasing Harrison... and I put Harrison`s face on the character of the archaeologist, and sent the script, the book, and the picture to Harrison. "The next day I got a call and he said, `This is not for me, pal`," Spielberg added. PTI