A little under a year ago I was interviewed by a Florida newspaper that asked me if I thought all the craziy juice that seemed to be flowing out of Tom Cruise these days was going to ruin War of the Worlds. I said “no”. It takes longer than that… and that we would really see if all his antics are doing his career any harm around Mission Impossible 3 and beyond.
Well… like Superman Returns, Mission Impossible 3 made a lot of money… but no where near the amount Paramount was expecting from it (especially since most people seem to think it was a really good film). People are getting sick of Tom Cruise. Period.
It looks like Paramount is recognizing this too. Cruise’s new contract deal is a HUGE downsize from his previous one that Paramount offered him. Here’s what the good folks over at Cinimatical had to say:
Paramount’s new offer, while still generous, is a far cry from $10 million/year. According to unnamed people familiar with the deal, the studio is offering Cruise and Wagner in the neighborhood of “$2 million plus a $500,000 discretionary fund each year for two years.”
The funny thing is I don’t think Cruise would be able to find another studio willing to offer him anything better right now. This guy MUST strat going into MAJOR PR mode… and soon. Start acting a little normal. Don’t hide… don’t wait for it to all blow over… because we’re way past that point were that would have done any good. Now he has to fix things. The longer he waits… the worse it will get.
The real tragedy in all of this is that like Russell Crowe… Tom Cruise is actually one hell of an actor. I’m a fan of his work and enjoy seeing him do it. But all the talent in the world won’t mean squat if he doesn’t do something about his image… and fast.
