Tom Cruise
(BANG) - Tom Cruise was sacked by his film studio amid allegations he is no longer a sex symbol.

The 'Top Gun' star was dropped by Paramount Pictures earlier this year and Sumner Redstone, the chief of Viacom - the company which owns Paramount - has now revealed why the decision was made.

Redstone claims his wife Paula's dislike of Cruise was the catalyst.

He said in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine: "Paula, like women everywhere, had come to hate him. The truth of the matter is I did listen to her.

"His behaviour was entirely unacceptable to Paula and to the rest of the world. He just didn't turn one woman off. He turned off all women, and a lot of men."

Redstone also cited Cruise's erratic behaviour, including his infamous 'couch-jumping' incident on Oprah Winfrey's chat show and his bizarre Scientology beliefs, as other reasons.

He added: "He was embarrassing the studio. And he was costing us a lot of money.

"When did I decide to fire him? I don't know. When he was on the 'Today' show? When he was jumping on a couch on 'Oprah'? He changed his handler, you know, to his sister - not a good idea.

"His behaviour cost us $113 million, $170 million on 'Mission: Impossible III'. It was the best picture of the three, and it did the worst.

"The explosion of publicly ending his contract was good. It sent a message to the rest of the world that the time of the big star getting all this money is over. And it is! I would like to think that what I did, or what we did, has had a salutary effect on the rest of the industry."

(C) BANG Media International

i thought he was dropped because he's stone-cold bonkers.

He's just a symbol of crazy.

evenstar3 said:

crazy motherfucker nastybitch scientologist

Tom Cruise, MGM to form new United Artists in L.A
Thu Nov 2, 2006 2:40pm ET137
Business News

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Film star Tom Cruise has teamed up with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. to resurrect United Artists, the movie studio founded 87 years ago by screen legends Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and others, MGM said on Thursday.

The partnership, under which Cruise would star in and produce films for UA with his production partner, Paula Wagner, comes about two months after the bitter end of Cruise's 14-year production deal with Paramount Pictures. Wagner will serve as chief executive of the United Artists.

Cruise and Wagner will exercise control over United Artists' production slate, from development to the ability to commit financial resources to new pictures, MGM said in a statement announcing the deal. The new UA will be located in Los Angeles.

Cruise, whose latest film, Paramount's "Mission: Impossible III," grossed more than $390 million worldwide, will still be available to appear in movies for other studios under the new deal.

The reconstituted UA will start out with a production slate of about four films a year, MGM said.

"The talent friendly studio will be reborn as a place where producers, writers, directors and actors can thrive in a creative environment," MGM said in the statement.

United Artists was founded in 1919 by actors Chaplin, Pickford and Fairbanks and pioneering director D.W. Griffith. UA secured distribution rights to films released by MGM in 1973 and was purchased outright by MGM eight years later.

MGM's film library contains over 1,200 titles, including such classics as "Midnight Cowboy," "Some Like It Hot," "Annie Hall," and the "Rocky" and "Pink Panther" movies. It also includes "Rain Man," which co-starred Cruise and earned four Academy Awards, including the Oscar for best picture.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
http://today.reuters.com/...rss&rpc=23

Spookymuffin said:

He's not NEARLY that cool.

evenstar3 said:

i'm that cool :coold:

purplerein said:

so if mr. cruise is dropped by MGM, will we be seeing/hearing about a mommie dearest-styled tantrum then?

katieeeee! bring me the axe...

luv4u said:

I'm no fan of Tom, that's for sure, but this is why Prince hates WB.

Tom Cruise did his job according to Paramount. He made the best MI yet, but the studio thinks he shouldn't be allowed to say what he wants or act how he wants.

They can fire him, yes, but they fired him just for being a buffoon, not for doing a bad job.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I would not kick him out of bed I Would have to gag him though!

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

NDRU said:

Yes, but as an actor in the public spotlight, you are a representative of that company. I wouldn't want him representing my company.

CarrieMpls said:

yup.

CarrieMpls said:

sure, I wouldn't either, but it doesn't exactly seem fair if your contract extends beyond the workplace and into a person's regular life.

In part, they fired him for his religion
[Edited 11/2/06 12:18pm]

NDRU said:

They dumped him because he was not doing his job (which is to sell their motion pictures). Movie stars know that the perception of their private life is crucial to their careers and that's why they have publicists, stylists, etc. Anyone on Cruise's level is well-aware that what they do off the set can and will effect their employability; Cruise is just stupid enough to believe that (for example) mainstream America would embrace his bizarro Scientology beliefs and not find it strange that he hooked-up with Katie Holmes out of the blue, without any plausible explanation of how they met.

As for Prince, he hates WB because they would not go along with his foolhardy ideas and refused to be swayed by his chidish antics. They did nothing wrong by him; he's the asshole there.

luv4u said:

That's called trying too hard to prove he's into chicks. Give it a rest Tom, you're not fooling anybody. Let your freak flag fly!

Tom Cruise is an aging movie star with a bloated ego who cannot afford to have his bizarre off-screen antics overshadow his limited acting abilities. Everyone seems to be aware of this except for Tom.

Tom was not fired because of his religion - he was fired because he is a can of worms and an increasing liability to the studio.

Ace said:

It's not necessarily his private life. It's the fool he's made out of himself in the PUBLIC life that's messed up.

Tom Cruise may have made a twat of himself, but if and when Cruise's next film is a monster hit, that doddery old fool boss at Paramount will rue the day he listened to his trophy wife.

Ace said:

he definitely made some stupid moves and should have known better.

But I guess I'm pointing out that most of us think that these people have it easy. In a way they do, but there's often a huge price to pay. I wouldn't get fired for saying stupid things in public. But at the level of Tom Cruise, you doesn't have greater freedom, you have less freedom in many ways.

Sports are another example. Football players aren't allowed to engage in "dangerous behaviors" like skiing, even in the off season.

outside of illegal activites, most of us can do whatever we want

he makes a mean buttplug though.....

And to use the Oprah couch thing as a reason is really stretching it.

His comments on post partum depression, yes I can see that, but being excited about being in love?

That's no goofier than any role he's done in his whole career. If the media hadn't latched onto it, there would be nothing offensive or embarassing about it, except to Tom who did it & Oprah who loved it.

NDRU said:

Hasnt he been a Scientologist for decades though? throughout most of his career, if that was the case they would have dumped him a long time ago. Also John Travolta and other stars are Scientologists and they/ he haven't been dumped.

LleeLlee said:

but they never talked about it very much.

just seems like Paramount bought into the bad publicity rather than stand behind a guy that's made huge dollars for them

My image of him hasn't changed one bit.

NDRU said:

I'm of the belief that they got out while the getting was still good. With the kind of dollar he was demanding, it would get tougher and tougher to turn a profit with his popularity in a freefall. As LleeLlee said, he wasn't dumped simply for being a Scientologist.

Ace said:

probably is just a case of "when you're not you're not," when all's said & done. If MI had done well, they wouldn't have cared what he said about Brook Shields