Well… some would call it a rebound signing. Tom Cruise has himself a new deal just a week after getting dumped by Paramount Pictures. No, it’s not with another studio… it’s with an investment group.
The good folks over at Movieweb give us the following:
Cruise/Wagner Productions (C/W) has partnered with First and Goal, an investment firm headed by Washington Redskins owner Daniel M. Snyder, homebuilding and mortgage banking company NVR chair Dwight Schar and Six Flags prexy-CEO Mark Shapiro.
According to Variety, the deal gives C/W development and overhead costs for two years, with the option to renew long term. A dollar amount was not disclosed. The pact is said to be part one of a three-step process for C/W in setting up an independently operated production shingle post-Paramount. The other two parts of the deal include distribution and finance elements.
From an objective perspective, this (on paper anyway) looks like a pretty good deal for Cruise and his partner Wagner. No, the money won’t be nearly as good as it was with his old Paramount deal, but it does offer him a flexibility and freedom he didn’t quite have before.
But considering how stupid he’s acted with his freedom and flexibility… maybe what he really needed is someone who could hold his leash for him and keep him out of trouble. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
