Cruise weathers bumps and remains on top
By David Germain |
January 20, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
JUST turned 50, Tom Cruise is eligible for membership in the American Association of Retired Persons. Just split from third wife Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise is the object of told-you-so cynics who simply knew that romance wouldn't last. Just finished with his stab at something really different as a heavy-metal rock god in "Rock of Ages," Cruise is coming off one of the lowest-grossing movies in his career.
Yet just out with his new action flick, "Jack Reacher," Tom Cruise remains one of Hollywood's biggest stars.
He's weathered ridicule, intense speculation about his family life, bumpy stretches at the box office brought on by audience disdain over his personal antics and some ill-considered movie projects.
And Cruise is right where he was when 1986's "Top Gun" vaulted him to superstardom: On top. Maybe not the same level of on top as the 15-year stretch that began in the early 1990s, when practically every Cruise film was bound to be a US$100 million hit.
But for a guy his age, with his baggage, in a business that deifies youth and excommunicates talent when it goes off the deep end, Cruise still prospers.
"None of us can stay in the spotlight that long without issues and controversy. Tom has stayed committed all along to finding great projects," said Rob Moore, vice chairman at Paramount Pictures, which released "Jack Reacher" last December. "Tom has been in such a great list of high-quality movies that ultimately, people come back to the work and the talent."
Fans agree. In a poll of nearly 1,000 ticket buyers at Fandango.com, 82 percent said Cruise's personal life does not influence attendance.
"The target audience for 'Jack Reacher' probably doesn't care whether he's married, separated or divorced," said Fandango.com chief correspondent Dave Karger.
Arriving amid a pre-Christmas rush of films, expectations are modest for "Jack Reacher," a solid action tale with respectable reviews. The opening weekend was projected at US$15 million or less. It was made on a moderate US$60 million budget, about US$100 million less than Cruise's last "Mission: Impossible" installment.
Adapted from "One Shot," part of Lee Child's best-selling series about a mysterious ex-military investigator, "Jack Reacher" features colder violence than the typical Cruise action film.
Cruise's Reacher is a fairly merciless lone wolf and the movie opens with gruesome slayings as a sniper randomly scopes out victims to shoot.
"No question, it's a raw nerve," said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "Violent imagery of any kind may be a bit of a tougher sell right now."
Yet for the long haul, Cruise's prospects look steady. Despite derision over his private life, Cruise has suffered only bumps and bruises professionally. At the height of his bizarre romance with Holmes, when Cruise was jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey's couch to proclaim his love, he bewildered, annoyed and infuriated fans.
Yet they have kept coming. A month after the 2005 couch trip, Cruise scored big with "War of the Worlds." The next year, after alienating fans with his sudden public sermonizing about his Scientology beliefs, damage was evident as "Mission: Impossible III" seriously under-performed.
He went five years without a solo hit, though he delighted fans with a twisted supporting role in the comedy hit "Tropic Thunder" and earned respectable reviews as an eye-patch-wearing German officer in the Hitler assassination thriller "Valkyrie."
Paramount, his long-time studio, dumped him in 2006 for his odd behavior.
Then Cruise and Paramount realized what a good thing they'd had together. He rejoined the studio for "Tropic Thunder" and last year's "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," which restored Cruise to blockbuster ranks and generally is regarded as the franchise's best installment.
Paramount is squarely back in the Cruise business with "Jack Reacher."
No matter what anyone thinks of his personal life, Cruise is one of the hardest working men in show business, with an unparalleled work ethic.
"Tom Cruise can viably continue to do these action films if only because he looks better than any 50-year-old I've ever seen," said Karger of Fandango.com. "What you hear the most about Tom Cruise as an actor is that this is the guy who commits ... It's superhuman, the energy he puts into a performance."
Yet just out with his new action flick, "Jack Reacher," Tom Cruise remains one of Hollywood's biggest stars.
He's weathered ridicule, intense speculation about his family life, bumpy stretches at the box office brought on by audience disdain over his personal antics and some ill-considered movie projects.
And Cruise is right where he was when 1986's "Top Gun" vaulted him to superstardom: On top. Maybe not the same level of on top as the 15-year stretch that began in the early 1990s, when practically every Cruise film was bound to be a US$100 million hit.
But for a guy his age, with his baggage, in a business that deifies youth and excommunicates talent when it goes off the deep end, Cruise still prospers.
"None of us can stay in the spotlight that long without issues and controversy. Tom has stayed committed all along to finding great projects," said Rob Moore, vice chairman at Paramount Pictures, which released "Jack Reacher" last December. "Tom has been in such a great list of high-quality movies that ultimately, people come back to the work and the talent."
Fans agree. In a poll of nearly 1,000 ticket buyers at Fandango.com, 82 percent said Cruise's personal life does not influence attendance.
"The target audience for 'Jack Reacher' probably doesn't care whether he's married, separated or divorced," said Fandango.com chief correspondent Dave Karger.
Arriving amid a pre-Christmas rush of films, expectations are modest for "Jack Reacher," a solid action tale with respectable reviews. The opening weekend was projected at US$15 million or less. It was made on a moderate US$60 million budget, about US$100 million less than Cruise's last "Mission: Impossible" installment.
Adapted from "One Shot," part of Lee Child's best-selling series about a mysterious ex-military investigator, "Jack Reacher" features colder violence than the typical Cruise action film.
Cruise's Reacher is a fairly merciless lone wolf and the movie opens with gruesome slayings as a sniper randomly scopes out victims to shoot.
"No question, it's a raw nerve," said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "Violent imagery of any kind may be a bit of a tougher sell right now."
Yet for the long haul, Cruise's prospects look steady. Despite derision over his private life, Cruise has suffered only bumps and bruises professionally. At the height of his bizarre romance with Holmes, when Cruise was jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey's couch to proclaim his love, he bewildered, annoyed and infuriated fans.
Yet they have kept coming. A month after the 2005 couch trip, Cruise scored big with "War of the Worlds." The next year, after alienating fans with his sudden public sermonizing about his Scientology beliefs, damage was evident as "Mission: Impossible III" seriously under-performed.
He went five years without a solo hit, though he delighted fans with a twisted supporting role in the comedy hit "Tropic Thunder" and earned respectable reviews as an eye-patch-wearing German officer in the Hitler assassination thriller "Valkyrie."
Paramount, his long-time studio, dumped him in 2006 for his odd behavior.
Then Cruise and Paramount realized what a good thing they'd had together. He rejoined the studio for "Tropic Thunder" and last year's "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," which restored Cruise to blockbuster ranks and generally is regarded as the franchise's best installment.
Paramount is squarely back in the Cruise business with "Jack Reacher."
No matter what anyone thinks of his personal life, Cruise is one of the hardest working men in show business, with an unparalleled work ethic.
"Tom Cruise can viably continue to do these action films if only because he looks better than any 50-year-old I've ever seen," said Karger of Fandango.com. "What you hear the most about Tom Cruise as an actor is that this is the guy who commits ... It's superhuman, the energy he puts into a performance."
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