What 2005 science-fiction movie starring Tom Cruise did Steven Spielberg direct?

The 2005 science-fiction movie starring Tom Cruise that Steven Spielberg directed was War of the Worlds.

The film adapts H. G. Wells’s 1898 novel about an extraterrestrial invasion, relocating the action to contemporary America. Cruise plays Ray Ferrier, a New Jersey dockworker who tries to protect his children while alien tripods devastate cities and military forces struggle to respond.

War of the Worlds was written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp, with Spielberg directing and John Williams composing the score. Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Tim Robbins, and Justin Chatwin also appear. It was released in the United States on June 29, 2005.

A common mix-up is confusing Spielberg’s film with the 1953 adaptation of the same Wells novel, directed by Byron Haskin. The title is also sometimes shortened informally, but War of the Worlds is the film’s canonical title.