Earlier this week, news broke that Tom Cruise signed a film deal with Warner Bros. to produce and star in movies for the studio. But what does Cruise’s new deal really mean? It’s not an exclusive deal, and Cruise has a couple of titles to finish making, including the upcoming sequel to “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning,” before he pivots to WBD. THR has the latest on the deal, hinting that a tense relationship between Paramount and Cruise may be what precipitated the actor to sign on under David Zaslav‘s current WBD regime.
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According to THR’s sources, the deal between Cruise and WBD came about thanks to a meeting set up last February at CAA after a call from Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy to Cruise’s agent, Maha Dakhil, thanking the actor for working hard to save theaters post-COVID pandemic. Those four, Zaslav, as well as Kevin Huvane and Joel Lubin were at the in-person meeting, and by the end of it, Zaslav and Cruise had bonded over the importance of keeping movie theaters alive. After the two-hour talk, the deal was all but done, with Cruise and the WBD CEO ready to make some new franchises together.
New action franchises for Tom Cruise, now in his early 60s? That’s Warner Bros.’ plans for the actor after he finishes his prior commitments. It sounds slightly unreasonable for someone Cruise’s age, but let’s look at his recent history. Thanks to “Top Gun: Maverick,” Cruise is still one of if not the biggest movie stars in the world, and all but guarantees box office success. So Cruise and WBD pairing to make more blockbusters makes sense for Zaslav, who wants to prove his studio is still a premier one after a shaky intro into the CEO role. But it’s a little more complicated than that, considering the relatively middling numbers “Dead Reckoning” drew in theaters last year. Paramount expected another roaring success headlined by Cruise with “Maverick”-like revenue. But the much-anticipated sequel to 2018’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” ended up losing about $25 million overall (and some sources track that loss as even higher than that).
So, needless to say, Paramount and Cruise are at odds now, and sources say that’s been the case for a while. Cruise got a lawyer after Paramount announced “Top Gun: Maverick” would only have a 45-day run in theaters in 2021. Obviously, that didn’t happen given the film’s success, but it ruffled Cruise’s feathers. Meanwhile, Paramount isn’t happy with Cruise shooting down the studio’s plans to make either “Mission: Impossible” or “Days Of Thunder” TV shows for its streamer, Paramount+. That tracks with Cruise backing the theatrical experience over streaming. Still, both of those potential series could have been successful enterprises that kept Paramount out of the hot water they’re in now financially. Everyone, including Cruise, knows that Paramount is a studio in desperate need of a deal, and Cruise acquiescing on either TV show could have helped the studio out or at least bought them more time before shopping themselves.
Cruise never had a formal deal with Paramount, so it’s not like he’s officially abandoning a sinking ship with his new WBD deal. But it’s telling that after five of the actor’s last seven films were with Paramount Cruise looks forward to having offices on the Warner Bros. lot. The star may anticipate Paramount merges with another entity soon. Or perhaps he’s ducking out before Paramount heads lose their temper with Cruise entirely. The actor’s tendency with director Christopher McQuarrie to go over-budget on their recent vehicles together also put Paramount in a tight bind. “Tensions have gotten higher between Tom and Paramount as relates to budget and collaboration,” a source told THR. “He doesn’t send script pages, doesn’t let them see dailies. He used to be very responsible on budgets. That changed on “Dead Reckoning.””
Whatever the case, a once-fruitful partnership between Cruise and Paramount appears to be on the skids, and Zaslav appeals to Cruise’s desire to remain an action star, despite his age. And sources told THR that Warner Bros. has already greenlit an unknown project for Cruise to headline that’s an action-thriller of sorts. Could that perhaps be a sequel to “Edge Of Tomorrow“? No, but that may be in the works, too, as De Luca and Abdi have wanted a sequel to Doug Liman‘s 2014 actioner for nearly a decade. But it’s clear Warner Bros. wants Cruise for blockbuster tentpole, not dramas like previous studio efforts like “Born On The Fourth Of July.” “He’s probably got another 10 or 20 years, maybe not hanging off buildings, but as a movie star,” an executive told THR. Warner Bros. will be a big part of Cruise’s next chapter of onscreen stardom
Still, it feels as if Cruise and Zaslav remain at odds despite their mutual desire to save movie theaters. Cruise loves to go over budget, making his latest pictures as big and memorable as possible. Meanwhile, Zaslav has spent much of his tenure leading WBD cutting costs, even if it means shelving movies permanently. How will those contradictory approaches meld through Cruise’s new deal? More complicated still, Cruise’s deal with Warner Bros. isn’t an exclusive one. “I’m not sure what [the Warners deal] is,” a studio competitor told THR. “It sounds like more of a David Zaslav headline than a movie.”
It’ll be interesting to see how all of this shakes out. But it’ll be awhile before anything happens between Cruise and Warner Bros. anyway. Still, many see signing the movie star as a huge win for Zaslav and his studio. “Their ability to say, ‘This is the home of Tom Cruise’ — I think they perceive it as a coup,” a veteran executive told THR. “It never hurts to have a very close relationship with the biggest movie star in the world. It does provide cachet. It says, `This is a real place.’”
