War Of The Worlds was made famous by Orson Welles in 1938 when he converted the book into a radio play and then performed it as though the alien invasion in the book was realy happening. Panic and fear swept across the country as people fled major cities to avoid the "attacking aliens." 

War Of The Worlds was previously adapted to the big screen in 1953 by Byron Haskin. That version failed to generate much interest at all, let alone a national pandemonium. 

Cruise and Spielberg hope to begin filming in late 2005.