Eighteen years ago, Paramount CEO Sumner Redstone made the following statement in the Wall Street Journal regarding Tom Cruise: “We don’t think someone who commits creative suicide and costs society money should be on the field […] His recent behavior is not acceptable to Paramount… He has never behaved this way before, he really crossed the line“.
Mission Impossible III had a budget of $150 million and grossed over $398 million worldwide. The film doubled its price, certainly, but the studio expected much more.
Sumner Redstone, of course, was not happy and blamed Tom Cruise’s behavior, as the actor had made headlines for his support of Scientology and strange behavior on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show. You know, when he was shouting his love for Katie Holmes from the rooftops while standing on the couch.
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The return of Tom Cruise
Suddenly, Tom Cruise, the biggest star in the world, doesn’t seem so big anymore. Undeterred, the actor hired a new publicist and moved away from major film productions. He has starred in dramas such as Lions and Lambs (2007) and Valkyrie (2008), which received mixed reviews, but it is Thunder in the tropics (2008) which brought it back to where it needed to be.
His performance in Ben Stiller’s film was so well received – he was nominated for a Golden Globe – that Paramount wanted to bring him back. However, as Screen Crush points out, doubts remained about the actor’s return as Ethan Hunt in Impossible mission.
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The actor had made it clear that he wanted to make a fourth part of the action and spy saga and JJ Abrams, director of Mission Impossible 3, became his ally. The producer and creator was on a roll after directing Star Trek (2009) and Super 8 (2011) with Steven Spielberg as producer. Paramount accepts, but on one condition: a new actor to lead the franchise. The studio wanted to make Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) a sort of reboot of the franchise, and to replace Tom Cruise, he hired Jeremy Renner, who had been nominated for an Oscar Minesweepers in 2008. “This is a franchise that has potential for someone to take over […] That’s the idea” Jeremy Renner told MTV.
Winning comeback!
Mission Impossible 4, directed by Brad Bird, grossed nearly $700 million worldwide on a budget of $145 million. What did the audience like the most? Tom Cruise, of course. The actor also played one of his most emblematic scenes of his career in this film by hanging from the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world in Dubai. The rest is history.
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Tom Cruise is now one of the biggest stars in the world. Impossible mission bounced back after the fourth installment and is now on its seventh film. The story of Ethan Hunt is not over, since Mission Impossible 8 is expected in cinemas.
Article written in collaboration with our colleagues from Sensacin.
