DID Tom Cruise have a good week…?

Tom Cruise had quite a dynamic week last week. Tropic Thunder is a hit movie, and his cameo performance in it is being called hilarious by just about everyone. And we all know Tom needed any kind of hit right now. Clearly stated, he needed great buzz about a performance of his, and that performance needed to be in a hit movie. Good Job!

Also, Valkyrie’s release date has been moved back up, right smack in the middle of Oscar Season! After the reshoots, people are having renewed confidence in this picture. Way to go!

Paula Wagner left United Artists. Ouch.

Wagner started out as his agent, then became his producing partner, and the two have been working together for the last 25 years! As you know, back in 2006 Cruise/Wagner’s deal was not renewed at Paramount (because Mission:Impossible III was “not a hit” when it made half a billion dollars) and three months later it was announced that the two of them would revive the defunct United Artists and run it themselves. Everyone in town was skeptical, but they announced their first movie would be directed by and would start Robert Redford, and also star Tom and Meryl Streep! What a coup! They gave themselves an instant pedigree, or so we all thought. Cruise and Wagner then had the ability to greeenlight movies that had budgets less than $60 million, they just had to greenlight movies to keep their financing. That was their job, pick movies and get them made. Take it from someone who has literally read thousands of scripts since arriving in the industry, it’s a harder job than it seems. And then it really isn’t. Just. Pick. Movies. Movies similar to the ones people seem to be enjoying, except smarter and funnier. Or dumber and funnier. Or just smarter. Something!

To be fair, It must be difficult to go from shepherding your one project from idea through development, to a final draft, through the production and on to distribution, and then also having to manage many projects at once all the while keeping your pulse on what audiences are paying attention to.

If I may, I would say that their big mistake was that the two pictures they actually got made were Tom Cruise movies. Hollywood secret: A studio can’t have its only two movies star the effing owner!

So, now, it is Tom’s turn to surprise all of you. This is the part of the movie where the chips are down and it looks for sure like the golden boy is in a real tight spot and is about to be blown to smithereens. But wait! All of a sudden, he somehow learns that he always knew what to do, he just never had a reason to use all of his talents at once. Things begin to look worse until he wins big, and is better than ever!

Here’s a hint: in Hollywood, sometimes you know you’re doing a good job simply based on the fact that you haven’t been FIRED. So yes, it may have been tough but Tom Cruise did in fact have a good week.



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