Well that didn’t last long. Any lingering hopes that Tom Cruise would be the latest addition to the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII have been dashed by a representative of the star.

Tom CruiseTom Cruise waves goodbye to any rumours surrounding him and Star Wars

Orginally, the rumours emanated from The Sun, who quoted a source saying Cruise met with J.J Abrams to discuss a possible role. "Tom has been in London for over a week and met up with J.J. and some other people [from the production]" a source told the tabloid. “On Saturday evening five of them met up for dinner and drinks at the Belgravia Hotel. J.J. loves working with Tom whenever he gets the chance."

Cruise’s rep, however, tells the celebrity rumour website Gossip Cop exclusively that reports about him appearing in the next Star Wars film are absolutely “false.” So that’s the end of that. 

There was no indication as to which character Cruise was rumoured to play, probably because the whispers of his involvement were totally false. But looking back, it’s probably for the best: any lead role would have overshadowed what is a young and exciting cast, and a cameo would have been pointlessly distracting. J.J. Abrams has a big enough task on his hands as it is dealing with without potentially divisive stars getting involved. 

And the production has already faced one major setback with Harrison Ford’s on-set injury. The star, returning to the fold as Han Solo, suffered a broken leg after a high-profile altercation with a garage door. At first people believed he broke his ankle while working with the Millennium Falcon, the injury turned out to be much worse and the reason much more boring.