Hollywood Divorce-Studio Style

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

24 Aug 2006 06:40 AM

Tom Cruise is divorcing... his movie studio. (I'm sure the first half of that line would have been more effective if he was already hitched to fiancée Katie Holmes.) If you haven't heard, the BIG news in Hollywood reads like this: "After 14 years together Cruise and Paramount Pictures have ended their professional relationship, with the studio blaming Cruise's recent controversial behavior for the split."

Sumner Redstone, chairman of Paramount Pictures parent company Viacom, told the Wall Street Journal Tuesday: "It's nothing to do with his acting ability, he's a terrific actor," studios executives said. "But we don't think that someone who effectuates creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot."

"Creative suicide"--an interesting choice of words. I assume Redstone is referring to Cruise's behavior leading up to the release of his last "Mission Impossible" movie, produced by Paramount, including jumping on Oprah Winfrey's couch to declare his love for Katie Holmes and attacking actress Brooke Shields for her use of antidepressants for postpartum depression.

"As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal," said Redstone. "His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount."

Like in any divorce it comes down to he said/she said. And it didn't take long for the Cruise camp to fire back. Cruise's production partner, Paula Wagner, tells PEOPLE Magazine that comments made by Paramount's chairman were "undignified, outrageous and untrue." She said she and Cruise would set up their own Wall Street-financed operation.

Meanwhile Cruise's agent, Rick Nicita, told the Wall Street Journal that Cruise was "offended" by Redstone's remarks. "This was done in an incredibly graceless way," he said.

But Wagner tells PEOPLE that despite the slight, Cruise will continue to star on the big screen. She goes on to say that she and Cruise had been considering taking their company independent "for a long time. For us, this is a very new and exciting direction. We look forward to working with all the studios."

Personally, I don't think the studio "divorce" will affect Cruise's viability as an actor. I think the decisions he has made in regards to his personal life have already done that. What do you think?

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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