S U N D AY, M A R C H 0 4 , 2 0 0 7Tom Cruise, Movie MogulA detailed story about Tom Cruise's "firing" from Paramount (hispeople insist the departure was already in the works when SumnerRedstone fired that broadside) and new deal with the slumberingstudio MGM.</p><p> Yes, Cruise gets to play with the UA logo, and yes, he andPaula Wagner agree the new entity is a "hybrid" between a productiondeal and a studio.</p><p> But I still say it's silly to claim Cruise is running astudio.</p><p> A studio, especially today, makes anywhere from 15-25 majorfilms, as well as owning one or two "indie labels" like Fox Searchlight"that make "smaller" films and probably has a record label forsoundtracks and a home DVD division.</p><p> THAT'S a studio.</p><p> Cruise andWagner have a glorified production deal with new ideas of financingand profit participation and ANTICIPATE making 4-6 movies a year.There are independent producers that deliver that many titles to majorstudios right now and no one claims THEY are running a studio.</p><p> Still,some of the details are interesting, most notably a drama directed byRobert Redford and starring Redford and Cruise and Meryl Streep.</p><p> Thebudget is a tiny $35 mil for "Lions for Lambs" with the three starsdeferring an upfront fee AND deferring a cut of the gross revenue inexchange for splitting (three ways?) half of the film's profit with UA.</p><p> I'dlove to know how they're determing "profit" since that debate is exactlywhy talent demands big money upfront or a cut of the gross, sincethere's no debate about what that means.</p><p> Finally, Wagner is a taddefensive about charges their record is spotty for movies that don't starCruise.</p><p> She says anyone's record is "spotty" who makes enough movies.Fair enough, but they have precious few hits to claim. (They've made 12movies in the past 13 years, by the way, far less than making six moviesa year.)Tom Cruise began work as a producer in 1996.</p><p> His work as an actor onmovies he DIDN'T produce has been impressive:Jerry MaguireEyes Wide ShutMagnoliaMinority ReportCollatteralWar Of The WorldsNext Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: Tom Cruise, Movie Mogulhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2007/03/tom-cruise-movie-mogu... 1 of 37/26/09 12:19 AMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SBiboyMichael in New YorkAaron POPSURFING.COM: Tom Cruise, Movie Mogulhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2007/03/tom-cruise-movie-mogu... 2 of 37/26/09 12:19 AMPOPSURFING.COM: Tom Cruise, Movie Mogulhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2007/03/tom-cruise-movie-mogu... 3 of 37/26/09 12:19 AM
