CRUISING Right Along

(From The Hartford Courant -- By Pat Seremet)

KATIE HOLMES reportedly has been dropped from the next BATMAN movie because WARNER BROTHERS chiefs believe her mushy-gushy lovefest with TOM CRUISE contributed to the opening-weekend underperformance of BATMAN BEGINS. CHRISTIAN BALE, MICHAEL CAINE and MORGAN FREEMAN all have signed up for the sequel, the INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE reports.

And also on the Cruise front -- SCARLETT JOHANSSON reportedly passed on MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3 after Cruise tried to convert her to SCIENTOLOGY. Cruise took her to one of the religion's headquarters, claims RADARMAGAZINE.COM, which quoted a source as saying -- "After two hours of proselytizing, Cruise opened a door to reveal a second room full of upper-level SCIENTOLOGISTS who had been waiting to dine with the pair," at which point she politely excused herself.

The Cruise news just keeps on coming -- THE NEW YORK POST reports that PARAMOUNT PICTURES and DREAMWORKS, producers of WAR OF THE WORLDS, are about to get socked with a stunning hotel bill for Cruise's trip to FRANCE to promote the film. They have to pay not only for Cruise and Holmes but also for 34 rooms inhabited by Cruise's huge posse of SCIENTOLOGISTS at a luxurious MARSEILLE HOTEL.