Posted on 08/22/2006 4:45:28 PM PDT by Blogger
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures unit is ending its 14-year relationship with Tom Cruise's film production company because of the actor's offscreen behavior, the company's chairman said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. ADVERTISEMENT
Sumner Redstone, Viacom chairman, said the behavior of the star of the "Mission: Impossible" series and "Top Gun" was unacceptable to the company, according to the Wall Street Journal story e-mailed to reporters.
Cruise, one of Hollywood's biggest stars, has been known more recently for his antics on U.S. television talk shows, including jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey's couch to declare his love for Katie Holmes and criticizing the use of antidepressant drugs.
"As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal," Redstone was quoted as saying in the Wall Street Journal. "His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount."
Cruise's representatives and officials from Viacom and Paramount did not have any immediate comment on the report.
Poor baby in a bubble.
I thought scientology believers were promised nothing but ongoing success; ooops... guess he must have zigged when he should have zagged in his church.
He's got some bad engrams there!
HELLO!! Pinging the Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™ List
More...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115628557000642662.html?mod=home_whats_news_us
Paramount Ends Relationship
With Tom Cruise's Company
By MERISSA MARR
August 22, 2006 7:48 p.m.
Viacom Inc. Chairman Sumner Redstone said his company's Paramount Pictures is terminating its 14-year relationship with actor Tom Cruise's production company, citing the actor's controversial and sometimes erratic behavior of the past year.
Mr. Cruise, the star of Paramount hits like "Mission: Impossible," "Top Gun" and "Days of Thunder," has based his moviemaking company, Cruise/Wagner Productions, on the Paramount lot since 1992. But in the past year, Mr. Cruise's star has fallen in the wake of a series of public incidents in which he stumped for his faith in the Church of Scientology; severely criticized the use of antidepressant drugs; and engaged in sometimes offbeat behavior, such as jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey's couch to proclaim his love for actress Katie Holmes.
Paramount now believes that Mr. Cruise's behavior hurt the box office of his most recent film, "Mission: Impossible III." Now, Mr. Redstone said he wants to sever the studio's connection to its biggest star.
"As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal," Mr. Redstone said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount."
A spokeswoman for Cruise/Wagner Productions declined to comment.
After being contacted by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Cruise's representatives presented a different version of events. They said that Mr. Cruise's production company had decided to set up an independent operation financed by two top hedge funds, which they declined to name. Paula Wagner, Mr. Cruise's partner in the company, said such an arrangement represented a new business model for top actors prominent enough to take advantage of the flood of money coming into Hollywood from Wall Street.
"This is a dream of Tom and mine," Ms. Wagner said. She challenged Mr. Redstone's assertion that Mr. Cruise's behavior had cost the studio ticket sales, pointing out that the star's movies have made the studio a huge amount of money.
Write to Merissa Marr at merissa.marr@wsj.com
He's going to have a bade case of break failure on a winding road overlooking a cliff.
He's becoming a major liabaility for the clams.
Looks like Tommy needs to shell out another $500,000 or so to his whackjob cult to help him fine tune "the tech."
REDSTONE, SUMNER
DEDHAM, MA 02027
NORTHEAST THEATRE
KENNEDY, PATRICK J
VIA FRIENDS OF PATRICK J. KENNEDY INC.
07/25/1997 1000.00 98032802774
REDSTONE, SUMNER
NEWTON, MA 02459
VIACOM
KENNEDY, EDWARD MOORE SENATOR
VIA KENNEDY FOR SENATE 2006
05/13/2004 1000.00 24020441793
REDSTONE, SUMNER
NEWTON, MA 02459
VIACOM/CHAIRMAN
KENNEDY, EDWARD MOORE SENATOR
VIA KENNEDY FOR SENATE 2006
10/27/2005 900.00 26020060828
There was a long NY Times article last week that the "stars" are worried because all the over-the-top deals are going away...
maybe Scientology was threatening to walk off w/ their "star". Obviously, Redstone doesn't care about character.
Friend in the business says he's a three dollar bill. Not that that matters. He's also 5 foot 4 when not jumping on a couch or standing on a box.
Redstone gave money to The Torch, too.
Jane Fonda was the first Hollywood communist/fruitcake I refused to watch anymore. My list has since expanded, and it definitely includes Tom Cruise.
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