There aren’t many true movie stars in Hollywood anymore. Sure, there are A-listers, but there aren’t many people who actually can lend their name to a film and watch it become a hit just based on name recognition alone. Tom Cruise is one of those people. So, you better believe studios would love to have Cruise working for them. And now, Warner Bros. can lay claim to the future of Mr. Cruise. Well, for the most part.
According to Deadline, Tom Cruise has signed a new deal with Warner Bros. Discovery which would allow him to produce and star in movies for WB. It’s far too early to know exactly what he might work on, but it’s clear WB just wants to be in the Tom Cruise business right now, especially as CEO David Zaslav has been one of the biggest supporters of theatrical releases. (Something Cruise has been an advocate for in recent years.)
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“I have great respect and admiration for David [Zaslav], Pam [Abdy], Mike [De Luca], and the entire team at Warner Bros. Discovery and their commitment to movies, movie fans, and the theatrical experience,” said Cruise. “I look forward to making great movies together!”
“We are thrilled to be working with Tom, an absolute legend in the film industry,” De Luca and Abdy added. “Our vision, from day one, has been to rebuild this iconic studio to the heights of its glory days, and, in fact, when we first sat down with David Zaslav to talk about joining the Warner Bros. Discovery team, he said to us, ‘We are on a mission to bring Warner Bros back – we have the best resources, storytelling IP, and talent in the business – and we need to bring Tom Cruise back to Warner Bros!’ Today, that becomes a reality and we are one step closer to achieving our ambition. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Tom back to Warner Bros. and look forward to bringing more of his genius to life on screen in the years ahead.”
Now, there are a couple of asterisks that need to be added to the news above. First off, no, that doesn’t mean “Mission: Impossible” is dead. He is not exclusive to WB, and he can still make the next ‘M:I’ film. The same goes for his unmade space film with director Doug Liman that he wants to make at Universal. However, it’s not as if Tom Cruise makes a bunch of films each year, so you better believe WB is hoping he wraps up prior obligations in quick succession so he can focus on making movies for the studio.
That said, the next big asterisk is the fact that Tom Cruise has recently been involved primarily with Paramount, the studio that released the aforementioned ‘M:I’ films, as well as the massively popular “Top Gun: Maverick.” You would think the actor would maybe just want to stick with that studio, right? Especially since he hasn’t really worked on a WB movie in about a decade (“Edge of Tomorrow” in 2014). Well, if reports are to be believed, Paramount could be the latest major studio to be acquired and absorbed. And would you guess, Warner Bros. Discovery is the company looking to acquire Paramount? So, this could be a simple decision made by Cruise because he sees the writing on the wall and will just jump to the mothership a little early.
Regardless, WB has nabbed the biggest movie star on the planet. We’ll just have to wait and see what that means in the years to come.