Word: paramount
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...This week Paramount Pictures essentially invoked the sanity clause to end its 14-year deal with Tom Cruise and his Cruise-Wagner production company. (The star's partner, Paula Wagner, insisted that she and Tom had jumped out of their contract before they could be pushed.) "His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount," harrumphed Sumner Redstone, chairman of Paramount's parent company Viacom, as if he were the provost of a starchy boys' school and Cruise a rambunctious pupil...
...Nevertheless, she said the success of the films he has made for Paramount attest to her partner's enduring appeal. According to Cruise's publicist, during the past decade, "Cruise has made six films for Paramount with worldwide box office totals of $2.4 billion, accounting for 32% of Paramount's total income for the six years he had a film in release." The publicist added that Cruise's last two films, War of the Worlds and Mission Impossible 3, have grossed $977.8 million worldwide. "As an actor, Tom is responsible for almost $3 billion in box office revenue for Paramount...
...source with knowledge of Paramount's thinking replied, "You have to factor in how much he cost them. His production deal was expensive and he was providing diminishing returns, based on his box office performance and the [off-screen] behavior that the studio executives felt was impacting...
...Still, the decision to end its association with Cruise isn't risk-free for Paramount. It's a testament to the ongoing strength of the Cruise/Wagner brand that their company attracted such a huge amount of private capital. Moreover, two of Hollywood's biggest producers are still fans of Cruise the actor. Wagner says JJ Abrams, who directed Mission Impossible 3 and just inked big production deals of his own with Warner Bros. and Paramount, still wants to work with...
...ending the relationship in such a public and messy way, Paramount could wind up alienating other talent, industry insiders warn. "As a movie studio, your business is to attract filmmakers and artists," said one, who is a Cruise ally. "Why would you say something about an important movie star when it could make his friends and colleagues [think twice] about working at a place that attacks artists...