Earlier this month, John posted about Tom Cruise getting his production contract cut back from $10million a year to the studio is offering Cruise and Wagner in the neighborhood of “$2 million plus a $500,000 discretionary fund each year for two years. Well now it looks like the contract that officially expired at the end of July and has been in negotiations for nearly a month has resulted in Paramount choosing NOT to offer him anything at all.
I have to say I wasn’t surprised by this, as Cruise’s behaviour has been sketchy at best, and it was really hurting his reputation. Don’t get me wrong, I think Cruise is a fine actor, and I really enjoy his stuff. I just dont enyoy him as a person.
Cinematical gives us this news
Well, It’s official: Paramount has ended a long-standing production deal with Tom Cruise. The 14-year-long relationship included the release and box-office success of films like Mission: Impossible, Top Gun and Days of Thunder, but a memo released today cited Cruise’s recent public behavior as “unacceptable.”
I am sure with Tom’s star power, if he makes some serious effort to calm his public antics, keep his mouth shut, and make a solid commitment to not jump on Oprah, he might just recover his Production career.
Studios don’t want him, and the fans are tired of him. I think it would be a sad day to see the end of Tom Cruise movies, and I hardly think this is the end, but I do hope this is a HUGE wakeup call for Cruise.
I seriously doubt this will hurt his longterm prospects any more than his tiresomely familiar face has been slowly eroding his bankability over the years. It really is a case of ‘How can I miss you if you won’t go away’. Seems like he’s in something every year, and almost always some kind of blockbuster.
Seriously, he needs to slow down and let people earn a little before he puts out another film. He hasn’t been in a film that has the draw of a LoTR or Harry Potter or what have you, and the only franchise he’s been associated with sits somewhere between Bond, Indiana Jones and Bat Man for sheer character immersion. Most of his movies are strictly Cruise vehicles, which can be tiring after a while.
But I’m sure we’ll be watching more and better Cruise films for years to come. He’s too driven to be stopped by a studio exec with a hard on.
I feel Paramount should have settled the matter in an amicable way rather than making a big issue out of it. I am sure Tom Cruise will teach Paramount a lesson by joining other biggies or coming up with his own banner.
MSNBC.com has an article that offers up some reasons for fading star power:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14514837/
i am happy for parmount for doing this these day actors earn to much anway and the things he has done in the media this year were stupid and he looked like a wanker now parmount can get an upcomming actor for lesser money now crusie has to get his movie life back in control plus i hate sciectolgy.
Paramounts loss. Cruise’s movies were the only big money makers for that studio.
As to his antics, plenty of other actors spout wacky ideas, are prima donnas and act like idiots. You’ve had far worse with no repurcussions. Remember the Alar scare anyone? Turned out to be bull, it wiped out the apple growers in the US, yet she still works in Hollywood.
Either there has been behind the scenes events we are unaware of or Paramount has found a scapegoat. All, or at least it seems that way, the studios have produced crap movies and yet are trying to shift the blame.
hey Rodney,
I’m not arguing one bit that his antics have affected his bankability. On the contrary, I think he has hurt his reputation severly in the public’s eye. My question was why are we letting his (I’ll admit it) kooky behavior affect whether or not we go see his movies. I went to see War of the Worlds and M:I:III, I enjoyed them both and not once did Tom Cruise the real person affect my enjoyment of Tom Cruise the actor’s preformance. I cant understand why anyone would let that happen. Most of us are able to sererate reality from fiction by not really thinking Tom is out there saving us from the alien menace. Why cant we do it the other way?
Yes. Scientology is a “religion” started by a failed scince fiction writer with hardly any grasp on reality as we know it.
But… Tom Cruise is a great actor and a good person. He credits Scientology for helping him find his peace and getting him through life’s struggles.
I am not defending Scientology. I think it is without-a-doubt a belief system started by a kook who thought he knew a better way for everyone to live their life, who later turned it into a “religion” to avoid paying taxes.
….But if it works for Tom. So be it. He’s a decent person.
Do I think Paramount did the right thing by not renewing his contract based, as the head of Viacom said, on his public behavior?
No. I dont think it was “right”.
Do I think it made good business sense…? Yes…
Do I agree that his antics should tarnish his reputation? NO.
Am I in the minority? Sadly… yes I think I am.
You want to talk about wierd cults? Let’s talk about all those people out there who worship at the Cult of Celebrity.
“What did he eat at Spago’s?”
“Where did they go on vacation?”
“Why are there no photos of the baby?”
“Why did he jump on that couch?”
“Why does he have an opinion on the drugs we’re forcing on our children?”
Why do you care?
In my opinion, people love to build celebrities up… but they love to tear them down even more.
can’t imagine why he would want that episode of southpark to be pulled. that just shows wat a tight arse cruise really is. it’s a joke. doesn’t he get that? if it was collin farrel, he’d be enjoying it and at the most would’ve said ‘fuck em’.
i enjoy cruise as an actor very much, but when i saw him in MI3 the images of him jumping on Oprah just kept leaping in my mind. *sigh* really disappointed by him. he’s a great actor. i would mourn if he’s really finished. but i think some other studio would take him. can’t help but think Katie Holmes did this to him. good for his mentality? maybe. bad for his career? definitely.
Remember the cliche “straw that broke the camels back”?
I don’t remember the exact order of events but could it be that Cruise’s blackmailing of the studio over the “Tom Cruise is in the Closet” episode of Southpark. I would imagine that a guy like Sumner Redstone would go along with Cruise’s demands to pull the episode, but it would really stick in his craw. After all CEOs have egos as big as actors, and a lot more smarts.
Jay, don’t get me wrong. I think Tom Cruise is one of the better actors out there today. I love his movies. I just think he is a little loopy.
Travolta subscribes to the same “religion invented by a fiction writer” as Cruise and he isnt crazy.
No, Cruise hasn’t “hurt” anyone with his antics, but its undeniable that this behaviour is affecting his marketability. Studios are not eager to work with him, but that doesnt mean he wont get work. They already said he will be getting a pay cut from his original salary, and his behaviour was the lynchpin that Paramount quoted being the reason for them not to renew a previously profitable relationship with Cruise.
And if my bagboy was a crazy loon, I wouldnt hate him either, but I might select a register that he isnt bagging at. This is the point. Paramount knows that they can attach themselves to more marketable faces, and given the choice (ie no contract) they chose to let him go do his own thing while they went on worrying about bigger more important things.
I like Tom Cruise.
As an actor.
If he wants to be against anti-depessants. Fine.
If he wants to jump on a couch and crazily proclaim his love for Katie Holmes. Fine. If I was with Katie Holmes, I’d be jumping on couches too.
If he wants to believe in Intergalactic warlords and volcano death sentences. Fine.
… but what has he personally done to hurt anyone? Like someone else said earlier, it’s not like he’s out there raping babies. He’s just gotten a little bolder in expressing his opinions. So what!
I understand that his boldness is coming across a little know-it-all-y, but he feels he’s right and is doing it from the standpoint of trying to help people.
He’s an actor.
Stop reading Star Magazine and Us Weekly. Stop watching Inside Edition and Access Hollywood and just go back to enjoying his movies. Remember when thats all you cared about.
I do… and to me, he’s still the same guy on the big screen.
People need to stop being so concerned with celebrities personal lives. As long as they are not hurting anyone, who cares. Do you want to know the sordid details of your grocery stores bagboy’s personal life? Do you care how long the cashier at Kinkos waits before they show thier baby pictures? Do you care about the belief system of the guy wearing the “The End Is Near” sign and screaming obsenities at motorists at one of your many traffic lights. Or… do you just take your groceries and your copies and drive right through that green light and worry about your own life?
I have plenty to worry about in mine. To be honest, going to the movies and seeing Tom Cruise beat aliens or international terrorists takes it away for a couple hours and I for one hope he is able to do that for many years to come.
How would you deal with an employee who engages in gambling and has a very public extramarital affair with a 19-year-old woman? How about a different employee whose erratic behavior included lecturing people about the use of anti-depressant drugs and hopping onto a couch in the middle of an interview? The two management teams acted very differently. In the first instance, the management is the New York Mets and the employee is star catcher Paul LoDuca. In the last month, Lo Duca’s gambling habit became public news within days after a 19-year-old Long Island woman “outed” the All-Star catcher and their affair after discovering he had lied to her about being married. Mets manangement was strangely silent throughout the double crisis and has doggedly stood behind their man. Sumner Redstone and Paramount Studios have taken an entirely different tact with wacko superstar, Tom Cruise, ending their 14-year relationship yesterday. Obviously, these are two totally different scenarios. But, the fact remains that a management team’s treatment of an erratic employee clearly reflects on its image and reputation with all constituent audiences. Are the Mets sending a subliminal “boys will be boys” message by turning a blind eye to Lo Duca’s behavior? Are they saying that they’re willing to win at any cost, regardless of the message it sends to kids and their parents? Is Paramount, on the other hand, drawing a line in the sand, and telling its actors and fan base alike that Cruise’s various meltdowns reflect poorly on the film studio, and that it will enforce certain behavioral guidelines moving forward? I, for one, am heartened by Paramount’s moves and disheartened by the Mets’ inertia. Both send strong, distinct messages. And, both indicate the kind of society we’ve become. Sadly, though, Sumner Redstone’s resolve seems more of a quaint reminder of what American morals and ethics used to be, while Omar Minaya and the Mets seem to reflect where we are now and where we are headed.
Methinks Cruise is too much the idiot for anything to serve as a wake-up call.
I believe that paramount has made a mistake.
this contract and relationship has been long over a decade and cruise has made the bucks for them. and i dont think that because MI3 didnt live to their expectations of gross, is a good enough reason to completey end business. i will agree that some of cruises behaviors have not been shall we say “agreeable” in terms of making a well rounded likeness upon all and that will hurt anyone in that business. it happens. russell crowe, mel gibson… but they stay standing with high earning films. cant deny it. i predict that cruise will stay on the down low for a while and i do predict that his next movie or 2 will not be big blockbusters but he will always stay ranked as one of the highest earning celebrities. cruise will take on a new team and paramount will regret it. Forget scientology he’s not the only one who believes in that (umm how about john travolta?!?!) and how can you sit back and judge him on being open about who he is? isnt that what america is about? er thats what i thought.. and forget couch jumping, just because it shocked you doesnt mean that its psycho. ur telling me u’ve never jumped on a couch because your beloved sports team won a game? ok? come on people, stop sitting back and judging him on his over exposed life and start judging himm for his work. and i bet you’ve seen A LOT of tom cruise movies so think about that. i’m with cruise all the way.
I think Paramount’s announcement and THEIR behavior was also very odd. Why did they think they had to defame and completely destroy their working relationship like that?
Anyway you look at it, Tom Cruise is still a bankable actor. It’s not like any of his recent films have failed to make money. It’s ridiculous. Hollywood egos all around.
I’m betting Cruise is going to pull a Mel Gibson. In the sense that he’s going to well and truly set up his own production entity, forge a distribution deal with one of the already salivating studios, and make insane amounts of money.
I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Tom Cruise by a long shot. Maybe the movies he’s going to make are going to be a little different. I think it’s all part of a larger transformation that’s happening.
This is just ONE studio saying that perhaps Tom isn’t worth the very large amount they’re paying him. It’s not like he’s been blacklisted or anything.
Once again, I’m stumped by people’s reaction to the new Cruise. All he’s done is express a little more of his character – which I accept shows he a bit of a twat – and people are acting like he’s been out raping babies. This all comes down to two things – jumping on a sofa, and voicing an unpopular opinion about the benefits of anti-depressants. Is that really so bad?
Oh, and you can’t blame the nuttiness on Scientology – he’s been into that for years. As I understand it, what he’s done recently is fire his long-term publicist. Good for you, Tom. Let your freak flag fly!
My mistake. I thought you were referring to https://www.themovieblog.com/archives/2006/08/tom_cruise_unemployed.html
Really?
https://www.themovieblog.com/archives/2006/08/paramount_cutting_back_on_tom_cruise.html
Looks like it to me.
That was unclear. Rodney, the original post you are refering to was not written by John. :)
I don’t wanna be picky, but it wasn’t actually John who wrote that post.
Kind regards
/Joel
Rodney:
Sorry about the mix-up.
As for Cruz and Scientology… I always assumed that during that time when he was so well handled, and always on script, that it was the Scientologist who were doing it.
He joined Scientology.
And my name is Rodney. John is on Vacation. >smirkHe joined Scientology.
And my name is Rodney. John is on Vacation. >smirk<
John:
What do you make of the fact that all this strange behavior, contentious interviews, and public battle with his studio has happened within such a short period of time.
To be honest, I didn’t hear anything negative about Mr. Cruise for the first decade of his career. And he and his people seemed to plan it that way. His appearences were carefully planned and he did few interviews.
Much like a well handled political candidate, he seemed to only make well planned appearences, and always stayed on script. I believe that when compared to other actors, he was far less available to media for interviews and such.
So now, within the last couple years, he suddenly seems to be out in front of the public unhandled and unscripted.
What changed?
This has been the big Hollywood news of the day, and it seems like a major news event. You’d think that some Volcano erupted and gave 1,000 people a lava bath somewhere in South America or something.
As for this lava spew:
1) I think Paramount made the right choice.
2) I don’t think Cruise/Wagner prods. will be really smarting over this. As they pointed out, they are now freed up to go to whatever studio they please.
3) It was going to happen sooner or later. (the contract expired at the end of the month)
4) I wish Paramount the best of luck without C/W, I wish C/W the best of luck without Paramount and/or Sumner Redstone. I hope namecalling doesn’t expand out past today/rest of the week.