 Terry George was the first director to join the project , and he also did some revisions to the script , but he soon left the project . Peter Berg was the next director to consider , but he too , eventually dropped out for undisclosed reasons . A year later it was confirmed that Phillip Noyce would direct . Noyce was attracted to Salt for its espionage themes , which are present in most of his filmography , as well as the tension of a character that tries to prove his innocence yet also does what he was previously accused of . 
