Tom Cruise and a Tear in the Universe
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Tom Cruise’s new deal, Kevin Costner’s gamble, Tina Fey’s bluster, and space monks.
Let’s go!
TOM CRUISE'S NEW DEAL
Tom Cruise’s breakout role inaugurated the tradition of him running in films.
Risky Business (1984) pits a high-school Tom Cruise against Guido the killer pimp, played masterfully by Joe Pantoliano, who’s after Cruise for running a brothel out of his parent’s home.
What Cruise captures better than any leading man in Hollywood is his immense duality in portraying blistering confidence and internal self-doubt.
Never is this more apparent than in PT Anderson’s vision of Cruise in Magnolia (1999), where Cruise plays an ultra-cocky dating coach who flips to a tear-drenched son as he reckons with his father's passing.
For the part, Cruise drew from his relationship with his father:
“I hadn’t seen my father for a number of years. I heard he was dying, and I didn’t know where he was. He didn’t want to be contacted. He left and didn’t want to be contacted for years. I think he was tired of inflicting so much pain on other people that he just had to get away.”
Even though Cruise was nominated for an Academy Award for that role, over the past decade, he has shed his vulnerability and exclusively played all styles of action heroes in reboots and sequels like Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, Jack Reacher, and The Mummy.
In a deal announced yesterday, Cruise has partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery to create original and franchise films. His previous partnership with Warner Bros. has yielded some of his most interesting roles: