Paramount cuts ties with Tom Cruise

[gldstwmn]

http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/22/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes

Film distribution giant ends 14-year relationship with actor's production company because of Cruise's recent erratic behavior, says a report.
August 22 2006: 8:47 PM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Paramount Pictures will end its longstanding relationship with Cruise/Wagner Productions, actor Tom Cruise's production company, citing his erratic behavior, according to a report published Tuesday.

Sumner Redstone, CEO of Paramount owner Viacom, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that Cruise's controversial behavior over the last year - including advocating for Scientology and denouncing the use of antidepressant drugs - was the cause for the move.


Cruise has been battling image problems in Hollywood.

The movie company is concerned that Cruise's behavior hurt his most recent film, "Mission: Impossible 3," said the report.

But Paula Wagner, Cruise's partner, disputed Redstone's assertions, according to the report. She told the paper that Cruise/Wagner Productions had decided to set up its own independent operation, backed by two unnamed hedge funds. She also noted in her comments to the Journal that Cruise had made Paramount vast sums of money over the years.

Cruise has worked with Paramount on hit films such as "Mission: Impossible," "Top Gun" and "Days of Thunder."

Cruise has starred in 24 movies producing an average box office gross of $99.9 million, according to The-Movie-Times.com, an online Hollywood database.

In June 2006 Cruise took the No.1 spot on Forbes magazine's annual list of the world's 100 most powerful stars. In the last 10 years all but one of his movies have grossed more than $200 million worldwide. His top-grossing movie was "War of the Worlds" (2005), which topped $590 million around the world.

However Hollywood's highest accolade - an Oscar - has eluded Cruise, despite three acting nominations for his roles in "Magnolia", "Jerry Maguire" and "Born on the Fourth of July."

In May 2006, a USA/Today poll showed his public approval rating had slipped to 35 percent. Many of those polled cited his blunt criticism of actress Brooke Shield's treatment for depression and of psychiatry in general.

In 2005, he became the butt of jokes for a manic, couch-hopping TV appearance declaring his love for girlfriend Katie Holmes on the Oprah Winfrey show.

[irishgrl]

ha HA! havent read the article yet but GOOD! ASSHOLE TOM CRUISE...

ok, now Im gonna go read the article..

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Cruise has been battling image problems in Hollywood.

come outta the closet, you're not fooling anyone..."

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/22/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes

Film distribution giant ends 14-year relationship with actor's production company because of Cruise's recent erratic behavior, says a report.
August 22 2006: 8:47 PM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Paramount Pictures will end its longstanding relationship with Cruise/Wagner Productions, actor Tom Cruise's production company, citing his erratic behavior, according to a report published Tuesday.

Sumner Redstone, CEO of Paramount owner Viacom, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that Cruise's controversial behavior over the last year - including advocating for Scientology and denouncing the use of antidepressant drugs - was the cause for the move.


Cruise has been battling image problems in Hollywood.

The movie company is concerned that Cruise's behavior hurt his most recent film, "Mission: Impossible 3," said the report.

But Paula Wagner, Cruise's partner, disputed Redstone's assertions, according to the report. She told the paper that Cruise/Wagner Productions had decided to set up its own independent operation, backed by two unnamed hedge funds. She also noted in her comments to the Journal that Cruise had made Paramount vast sums of money over the years.

Cruise has worked with Paramount on hit films such as "Mission: Impossible," "Top Gun" and "Days of Thunder."

Cruise has starred in 24 movies producing an average box office gross of $99.9 million, according to The-Movie-Times.com, an online Hollywood database.

In June 2006 Cruise took the No.1 spot on Forbes magazine's annual list of the world's 100 most powerful stars. In the last 10 years all but one of his movies have grossed more than $200 million worldwide. His top-grossing movie was "War of the Worlds" (2005), which topped $590 million around the world.

However Hollywood's highest accolade - an Oscar - has eluded Cruise, despite three acting nominations for his roles in "Magnolia", "Jerry Maguire" and "Born on the Fourth of July."

In May 2006, a USA/Today poll showed his public approval rating had slipped to 35 percent. Many of those polled cited his blunt criticism of actress Brooke Shield's treatment for depression and of psychiatry in general.

In 2005, he became the butt of jokes for a manic, couch-hopping TV appearance declaring his love for girlfriend Katie Holmes on the Oprah Winfrey show.

if ever there was a reason for consumers to "vote with their pocketbooks" its HIM! Boycott all his movies/ventures! Let him know in no uncertain terms that he is a HAS BEEN. and Free Katie while we're at it.

[strandinthewind]

I think this is rather silly of Paramount if that is their only reason. The bottom line is both of his last two movies, which were released around the time of the craziness, were blockbusters, to wit:

Mission Impossible III

TOTAL LIFETIME GROSSES
Domestic: $133,501,348 34.0%
+ Foreign: $259,660,663 66.0%

--------------------------------------

= Worldwide: $393,162,011

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mi3.htm

and

War of the Worlds

TOTAL LIFETIME GROSSES
Domestic: $234,280,354 39.6%
+ Foreign: $357,459,025 60.4%

----------------------------------

= Worldwide: $591,739,379

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/...ftheworlds.htm

So, he still is a bankable star.

I think Cruise and Wagnor wanted too much of the gross, which they certainly could command after the long string of successes and then these last two.

Note -- I make no comment on Cruise's antics. I am looking at this from a business aspect only.

[amber]

That's a lotta cheddah to break from, yo. cr-zazy cheddah. (To paraphrase what Strand pointed out).

They must be banking that his future movies will tank, to make that kind of bad (seemingly) business move.

Even though he may be a cr-zazy tool, he usually picks good movies, interesting, lotta flash and action - in short, the kind of movies lots of people want to see. No, I'm not saying they're the best plots ever written or anything, but they are usually passable. Heck, I really liked that movie with Jamie Fox. Collateral?

Strand, even if they wanted too much of the gross, they'd still make a bigger profit on his movies than on most other movies, bet. Unless he's asking for 80% or something.

[vermicious knid]

Tom Cruise is repulsive to me. This is an old article from 1993. He was always a jerkwad; the public is catching up real late on that observation. The whole thing is an eye-opening read, but I want to highlight this one part.

Take the filming of the climactic courtroom scene in A Few Good Men, in which Jack Nicholson's character lunges at Cruise from the witness stand and has to be restrained by two marine guards. While being made up between takes, a real marine, who had been cast as one of the guards, joked to the makeup artist to take it easy--he didn't want to be "prettier" than Cruise. Overhearing the remark, Cruise barked angrily at the young marine, "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't want to be a pretty boy like you," the marine joked.

"Yeah, then you'd have to get a real job," Cruise told the $17,000-a-year marine.

[amber]

Originally Posted by vermicious knid

Tom Cruise is repulsive to me. This is an old article from 1993. He was always a jerkwad; the public is catching up real late on that observation. The whole thing is an eye-opening read, but I want to highlight this one part.

yeah, but how do we know that really happened? Most accounts of people from sets and stuff say he's pretty nice. Although, since he's super gay, he might have some sensitivity around being called a "pretty boy".

[JazmenFlowers]

I hate Tom Cruise.

that's all.

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by vermicious knid

Tom Cruise is repulsive to me. This is an old article from 1993. He was always a jerkwad; the public is catching up real late on that observation. The whole thing is an eye-opening read, but I want to highlight this one part.

This article is eye opening. It illustrates a mind control tactic used by cults which is called loading the language. They create words that are easily remembered to apply sweeping generalizations and judgements. Like calling the press "suppressive persons". From rickross.com:

Loading the Language
The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought-terminating cliché. The most far-reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief, highly reductive, definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorized and easily expressed. These become the start and finish of any ideological analysis. In [Chinese Communist] thought reform, for instance, the phrase "bourgeois mentality" is used to encompass and critically dismiss ordinarily troublesome concerns like the quest for individual expression, the exploration of alternative ideas, and the search for perspective and balance in political judgments. And in addition to their function as interpretive shortcuts, these cliches become what Richard Weaver has called "ultimate terms" : either "god terms," representative of ultimate good; or "devil terms," representative of ultimate evil. In [Chinese Communist] thought reform, "progress," "progressive," "liberation," "proletarian standpoints" and "the dialectic of history" fall into the former category; "capitalist," "imperialist," "exploiting classes," and "bourgeois" (mentality, liberalism, morality, superstition, greed) of course fall into the latter. Totalist language then, is repetitiously centered on all-encompassing jargon, prematurely abstract, highly categorical, relentlessly judging, and to anyone but its most devoted advocate, deadly dull: in Lionel Trilling's phrase, "the language of nonthought."

http://www.rickross.com/reference/br...washing19.html

[DavidMn]

I wonder if he'el take the role of Mork whenever the Mork And Mindy movie comes out?

[irishgrl]

It looks like Paramount maybe wasnt so stupid to cut ties with Tom after all:

It seems Sumner Redstone is not alone in his distaste for Tom Cruise's couch-jumping conduct.

On the heels of Paramount Pictures' decision not to renew Cruise's production deal comes word that the Mission: Impossible star's popularity ratings are down. Way down.

According to Marketing Evaluations Incorporated, the company that calculates the Q scores which measure a given celebrity's likeability factor, the public's positive perception of Cruise has fallen by 40 percent, while the negative perception of the actor has jumped a whopping 100 percent.

How did this happen? Let's revisit some of Cruise's most memorable moments over the last year and a half.

# The birth of TomKat, April 2005: Cruise jets to Italy to pick up a lifetime achievement award; much to the world's collective confusion, Katie Holmes accompanies him and the two engage in plenty of public canoodling.

# The passion of TomKat, May 2005: Cruise uses Oprah Winfrey's couch as a platform from which to trumpet his love for Holmes.

# The wrath of TomKat, May 2005: Cruise criticizes Brooke Shields for her "irresponsible" use of antidepressants to treat her postpartum depression.

# The wrath of TomKat, part 2, June 2005: Cruise calls Matt Lauer "glib" for suggesting that drugs such as Paxil and Ritalin might be beneficial in some cases, and calls the TV host out on his lack of knowledge about psychiatry, a subject in which Cruise claims to be well-versed.

# The engagement of TomKat, June 2005: Cruise jets to Paris with Holmes in tow; they scale the Eiffel Tower, where he pops the question; Cruise then announces momentous event at press conference.

# The aftermath of the wrath of TomKat, July 2005: Shields rebuts Cruise's remarks by penning an op-ed in the New York Times slamming his "ridiculous rant" against psychiatry.

# The reproduction of TomKat, October 2005: The betrothed couple announce that they have conceived an offspring.

# The OB/GYN skills of TomKat, November 2005: Cruise tells Barbara Walters he has purchased a sonogram machine to perform at-home ultrasounds on Holmes. The American College of Radiology objects and a California lawmaker is inspired to author a bill banning the use of such machines by anyone except trained professionals.

# The birth of TomKitten, April 2006: Cruise and Holmes announce the birth of their daughter, Suri, whose name supposedly means "princess" in Hebrew and "red rose" in Persian. Not to mention "pickpocket" in Japanese.

# The box-office effect of TomKat, May 2006: Mission: Impossible III opens below industry expectations, though still going on to gross a respectable $393 million worldwide.

# The power of TomKat, June 2006: Forbes magazine touts Cruise as the world's most powerful famous person.

# The privacy of TomKat, July 2006: Some four months after her birth, Suri has yet to make her public debut, though an elite few can claim to have laid eyes on her.

# The downsizing of TomKat, August 2006: Paramount Pictures decides not to renew its production deal with Cruise and producing partner Paula Wagner. Viacom head honcho Sumner Redstone tells the Wall Street Journal that Cruise's "recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount."

So, what's not to like? Nothing, according to Cruise's attorney, Bert Fields.

"What was his personal conduct?" Fields asked in an interview with the New York Post. "Jumping on a couch on Oprah Winfrey because he's in love with Katie Holmes? That really deserves the death penalty?

"Or speaking out against mood-altering drugs for children? That's a real reason for the [Viacom] shareholders to be deprived of billions of dollars?"

Perhaps not, but it does provide insight into how Cruise could have become less appealing in the eyes of the general public.

Meanwhile, Wagner has also spoken out in defense of her business crony (whom she likes, anyway), calling Redstone's remarks "graceless," "undignified," and "not businesslike."

"I ask, what is his real agenda? What is he trying to do? Is this how you treat artists?" Wagner raged to the Los Angeles Times. "If I were another actor or filmmaker, would I work at a studio that takes one of their greatest assets and publicly does this?"

Cruise has yet to speak up on his own behalf. However, Wagner stated that the producing partners would be just fine without Paramount and had already secured $100 million in independent financing from two hedge funds.

Even so, the question remains of what will happen to the projects Cruise/Wagner Productions had already developed for Paramount.

The producing partners had stockpiled a number of scripts for the studio, many as potential starring vehicles for Cruise. Negotiations over the projects could get tricky, given Paramount's relatively new conditions for pictures put into turn-around, including the requirement that the studio be fully reimbursed and receive coproduction rights.

According to Daily Variety, some of the most promising projects brought to Paramount by C/W include One Shot, a mystery about a homicide investigator; The War Magician, a true-life drama about a British magician who used illusions to mystify the Germans and protect British troops in North Africa; and The Few, a drama about American fighter pilots who fought for the British in World War II.

"We have not discussed what will happen with the projects," a C/W spokesperson told Daily Variety. "They all have separate contracts and agreements, and I'm sure they will be honored."

[DavidMn]

He's one of those guys that's alot weirder than he looks.

[DrummerDeanna]

Originally Posted by DavidMn

He's one of those guys that's alot weirder than he looks.

Indeed! And I'm proud to say I've only seen one Tom Cruise movie in my life. And I HATED it...Jerry Maguire...what a piece of over-rated poo.

So yeah - never seen Top Gun, never seen Rain Man - and I will never pay to see a Tom Cruise movie again, not that that'll be hard - since I've managed to avoid them thus far.

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

Indeed! And I'm proud to say I've only seen one Tom Cruise movie in my life. And I HATED it...Jerry Maguire...what a piece of over-rated poo.

So yeah - never seen Top Gun, never seen Rain Man - and I will never pay to see a Tom Cruise movie again, not that that'll be hard - since I've managed to avoid them thus far.

You know I wasnt offended when he talked about his disdain for anti-depressants because I can see right thru his BS.