Posted on 06/03/2005 10:49:49 PM PDT by CHARLITE
With Hollywood desperately trying to end its 14-week box office slump, the release of superstar Tom Cruise's newest summer blockbuster ought to guarantee a big payday. But the star's erratic behavior lately - including a love-struck appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" with new girlfriend Katie Holmes and his out-there promotion of the Church of Scientology - could backfire and turn off the huge potential audience for the costly science-fiction epic "War of the Worlds" being released June 29 by Paramount Pictures, industry experts said Thursday.
"He just seems so outside himself and so bizarre," said brand and image consultant Morris Reid, the managing director of Westin Rinehart in New York City. "The public is saying, 'Wow. This is weird.' I think people are genuinely concerned."
There have also been widespread reports this week that there are some discussions taking place about whether Paramount should proceed with production of Cruise's next film, "Mission: Impossible 3," reportedly because of soaring budget concerns. The studio did not return several calls for comment.
Paramount, under the leadership of new studio head Brad Grey since February, is on the comeback trail after several years of lackluster box office results. The studio scored a solid hit over the Memorial Day weekend with the Adam Sandler comedy "The Longest Yard" but "Worlds" is the studio's tent-pole summer film and being counted on to help return it to box office glory.
But discussion about "Worlds," directed by Steven Spielberg, has clearly taken a back seat to coverage of Cruise's love life.
Cruise, 42, began dating 26-year-old Holmes in April. She next co-stars in the June 17 release "Batman Begins," which has led to unflattering speculation that the relationship may be a publicity stunt.
"Isn't it convenient that Tom Cruise is dating Katie Holmes?" wondered box office analyst Robert Bucksbaum, president of Reel Source Inc. "Why not date the woman who has a blockbuster coming out right about the same time? If you saw the performance on 'Oprah,' it was absolutely over the top."
On "Oprah," a gushing Cruise jumped on and off Winfrey's sofa, dropped to his knees repeatedly, and proclaimed his love for Holmes before bringing the former "Dawson's Creek" star onstage at the end of the show.
"This is a big, big star, one of the most successful box office stars ever," Reid said. "He hasn't had a slump. He's the type of star that commands attention with or without these kinds of antics. I've never seen him jump up and down like a schoolboy."
Cruise has also been lambasted by actress Brooke Shields, who recently released a book telling of her battle with postpartum depression. Cruise, an ardent believer in Scientology, was critical in a television interview of Shields using prescription drugs to deal with her condition. The actress responded by calling his comments "dangerous."
But if the old adage that any publicity is good publicity is true, then Cruise would appear to be a roaring success. Speculation over some kind of possible superstar implosion have been topics of discussion everywhere from talk radio to Internet blogs to entertainment industry lunch spots.
Cruise and Holmes, already a ubiquitous presence on the covers of Us Weekly and In Touch since they went public in late April, were on the cover of People magazine this week for the first time.
"Tom's appearance on 'Oprah' certainly got people across the country talking about his new relationship with Katie Holmes," said People magazine assistant managing editor Todd Gold. "It had that water cooler effect and was smart on Tom Cruise's account. He got pretty much the entire country talking about it."
Cruise, who rose to stardom in the 1983 hit "Risky Business," has the most consistent box office record of any star, with a dozen $100 million-plus grossing movies spanning nearly 20 years: "Collateral," "The Last Samurai," "Minority Report," "Vanilla Sky," "Mission: Impossible 2," "A Few Good Men," "The Firm," "Interview With the Vampire," "Mission: Impossible," "Jerry Maguire," "Top Gun" and "Rain Man."
But the star has not had a film even approach the $200 million mark domestically since 2000's "Mission: Impossible 2."
"I think he wants to prove to the world that he is still the No. 1 box office star," said Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com. "His last couple of films have been older skewing; they are not really films with a lot of teenage appeal. 'War of the Worlds' has some of the broadest appeal of anything he has done recently.
"Now that he's in his 40s and a little detached form the MTV generation of today, it's important that young people still consider him a sexy Hollywood hunk," Pandya added.
Hollywood needs some of Cruise's box office muscle right now despite the current success of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," which is closing in on the $300 million mark domestically.
As of Sunday, box office revenue for 2005 lagged 4.4 percent behind last year's totals and attendance was down by a troubling 7.25 percent, according to the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co.
Contact: greg.hernandez@dailynews.com
Too bad, just when he was starting to get a handle on acting.
Having your brain washed by Scammintology will do that.
Life as a clam, Xenu/Xemu, body thetans ... its bound to cause one to rot from within like so much black magic.
His cogs were always pretty slippery, IMHO.
I don't know, he's Tom Cruise, if Mission Impossible 2 didn't kill his career, I doubt this Oprah/Katie Holmes stuff is going to.
He did pretty much the same thing with Penelope Cruz when they were both in that Cameron Crowe film. Then a few months after the film came out, he dumped her.
He has slipped a cog, but that happened a while back.
If this doesn't break Hollyweird's slump, and I tend to think it will just based on the odds, then that could have interesting implications.
Scientology is a cult, of course it's teachings can be dangerous.
Scientology is evil. Anyone who believes in it is deluded or has joined the dark side. I personally know two people who were more or less raised in it, at least for some time, and they both have terrible emotional problems.
It should have its tax exempt status ripped away from it. Hubbard invented it out of whole cloth as an experiment, having previously been a sci-fi writer. He also considered Alistair Crowley, a noted Satanist, homosexual pederast and practitioner of witch craft, as his mentor.
Tom Cruise is just another of Scientology's victims. He will go down not because of Brooke Shield's barbs (which were priceless), but because the hard core Scientologists are po'd. You don't do anything that gives scientology a bad name without paying their price. Believe me, they are scrambling to figure out what to do with him. He's too big for them to throw him overboard...it will be interesting to see what happens. In the meantime, I won't be heading to the theater to see "War of the Worlds" and the Batman movie he is in.
Well I have never really thought Cruise deserved the credit he seems to get for his acting...But is it possible he is being forced to do promotional stuff ? Maybe he is just acting a fool to end the studios sending him out? Personally I think he has gone a bit goofy...but I hadn't heard anyone mention the other possibility ...
You should. They effect a lot of people. But not as much as Oprah.
And in your opinion this other possibility is what?
are you talking about Vanilla Sky? that's when he dumped Nicole... he then lived with Penelope for a couple of years, didn't he?
Huh? This sounds like tabloid garbage. Scientology is dangerous. People have died. L. Ron Hubbard was a druggie whose own son committed suicide. We are are talking about a cult here, not some celebrity's 4th marriage.
The only flick I saw him in was Top Gun and as a retired military who spent many a day with the Air Force in southeast Asia, brought back some fond memories of the free spirited, but top notched pilots. When engaging the enemy it was all business and when it was time to party.....Well
why are you answering my response to someone about the length of Tom Cruise's relationship with an actress with your comments on Scientology?
i have not written one word about my opinions on Scientology... so what are you doing jumping on me like that? are you attacking me for asking that person whether or not he was talking about Vanilla Sky? why?
Tom Cruise keeps aiming for an Oscar... i think he thought The Last Samurai was going to do it for him... he wasn't even nominated... but the other guy in the film was... being that i cannot stand Tom Cruise, i kind of enjoyed that...
As a mature adult, though, I want to see a movie with giant monsters and stuff blowing up!
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