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Cruise/Wagner Productions

This was the film production company of actor Tom Cruise and his former agent Paula Wagner , formed in July 1992 and often known as C/W Productions . At the time the company was formed, Wagner had been representing Cruise for 11 years. The company was formed to give Cruise more creative freedom over his film projects and to give him the opportunity to produce and direct motion pictures.

The company signed an exclusive three-year multi-picture financing and distribution deal with Paramount Pictures in Octoer 1992, and would renew and expand that deal several times over the next 14 years. The deal was terminated in August 2006 by Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone. Within a week, Daniel Synder, owner of Washington's NFL team (then known as the Washington Redskins) and two hedge funds, secured financial backing to buy C/W Productions.

That November, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios came to Cruise/Wagner with a deal that gave them a percentage of the ownership of United Artists in a effort to revive the company. The deal fell apart in August 2008 when Wagner left the studio, effectively ending the company. Cruise later formed TC Productions.

1st Logo (December 14, 2001-February 1, 2008)

Visuals: On a black background, there's a white box with the outstretched letters " C | W " inside. " P R O D U C T I O N S " is seen below fitting the width of the box.

Technique: A still image.

Audio: None.

Availability: It appeared at the end of Vanilla Sky , War of the Worlds (2005), Elizabethtown , Ask the Dust , and The Eye .

2nd Logo (May 5, 2006)

Visuals: Over a black background, there's the crystal blue text " C RUISE | W AGNER " with " P R O D U C T I O N S " below.

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• This page was last edited on 21 February 2024, at 00:43.
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Mission: Impossible

When Ethan Hunt, the leader of a crack espionage team whose perilous operation has gone awry with no explanation, discovers that a mole has penetrated the CIA, he's surprised to learn that he's the No. 1 suspect. To clear his name, Hunt now must ferret out the real double agent and, in the process, even the score.

War of the Worlds

Ray Ferrier is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son and young daughter for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.

Terminal Island, New York: 2020. Overcrowding in the US penal system has reached a breaking point. Prisons have been turned over to a monolithic Weyland Corporation, which sees jails full of thugs as an opportunity for televised sport. Adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for violence and a spectacular, enclosed arena come together to form the 'Death Race', the biggest, most brutal event.

The Last Samurai

Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.

Mission: Impossible III

Retired from active duty, and training recruits for the Impossible Mission Force, agent Ethan Hunt faces the toughest foe of his career: Owen Davian, an international broker of arms and information, who is as cunning as he is ruthless. Davian emerges to threaten Hunt and all that he holds dear -- including the woman Hunt loves.

Mission: Impossible II

With computer genius Luther Stickell at his side and a beautiful thief on his mind, agent Ethan Hunt races across Australia and Spain to stop a former IMF agent from unleashing a genetically engineered biological weapon called Chimera. This mission, should Hunt choose to accept it, plunges him into the center of an international crisis of terrifying magnitude.

Grace is a religious woman who lives in an old house kept dark because her two children, Anne and Nicholas, have a rare sensitivity to light. When the family begins to suspect the house is haunted, Grace fights to protect her children at any cost in the face of strange events and disturbing visions.

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Vanilla Sky

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Violinist Sydney Wells was accidentally blinded by her sister Helen when she was five years old. She submits to a cornea transplantation, and while recovering from the operation, she realizes that she is seeing dead people.

Suspect Zero

A killer is on the loose, and an FBI agent sifts through clues and learns that the bloodthirsty felon's victims of choice are other serial killers.

Shattered Glass

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When the trail goes cold on a murder investigation of a policeman, an undercover narcotics officer is lured back to the force to help solve the case.

Elizabethtown

Drew Baylor is fired after causing his shoe company to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. To make matters worse, he's also dumped by his girlfriend. On the verge of ending it all, Drew gets a new lease on life when he returns to his family's small Kentucky hometown after his father dies. Along the way, he meets a flight attendant with whom he falls in love.

Ask the Dust

Mexican beauty Camilla hopes to rise above her station by marrying a wealthy American. That is complicated by meeting Arturo Bandini, a first-generation Italian hoping to land a writing career and a blue-eyed blonde on his arm.

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Tom Cruise's company lands investor after split with Paramount

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Tom Cruise's production company has signed a two-year financing deal with an investment partnership after breaking ties last week with Paramount Pictures.

The deal announced Monday between Cruise/Wagner productions and First & Goal LLC — headed by Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder — will cover overhead and development, allowing Cruise and producing partner Paula Wagner to run their company and make deals to produce films.

Financial terms have not been revealed, but they do not include funding for film production and distribution.

Cruise's production deal with Paramount had given the star as much as $10 million US per year for salaries, expenses and discretionary spending in exchange for first right to finance or distribute the films.

But tense negotiations broke off when Paramount offered a much lower deal closer to $2 million annually.

The dispute became public last week when Sumner Redstone, chairman of Paramount parent Viacom Inc.,criticized Cruise's public behaviour.

Cruise blamed for losses

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal , Redstone claimed Cruise's jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey's couch and aggressive defence of Scientology in the past year lost Paramount $100 million US and $150 million US in ticket sales for the actor's latest film, Mission: Impossible III .

Wagner slammed Redstone last week, calling his comments "surprising" and unbusinesslike. She said it was their decision to walk away from a 14-year partnership with Paramount.

Last week, Wagner said her company had secured funding from two hedge funds, a separate arrangement from the deal with First & Goal. On Monday, she declined to comment on those deals.

First & Goal was specifically set up to invest in Cruise/Wagner, as Snyder moves from sports to entertainment along with partners Dwight Schar, chairman of homebuilder NVR Inc., and Mark Shapiro, president and CEO of Six Flags Inc., the amusement park chain where Snyder serves as chairman of the board.

Shapiro, a former ESPN entertainment executive, will oversee the Cruise/Wagner deal.

"We believe that Cruise and Wagner are a terrific investment," Shapiro said. "The track record speaks for itself."

Cruise will continue to be able to star in films produced elsewhere, just as he did under Paramount.

The spat between the star of Top Gun , War of the Worlds and the Mission Impossible movies, and Paramount is the latest example of tension between actors and executives after what Hollywood analysts are calling a down summer for film revenues.

Earlier this summer, a studio head chided Lindsay Lohan for her behaviour on a movie set in a letter leaked to the press, and an ABC deal with Mel Gibson's production company to produce a four-part series on the Holocaust was cancelled after his alleged anti-Semetic remarks during a drunk-driving arrest.

With files from the Associated Press

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Cruise production company finds new financing

Tom Cruise’s production company, which broke ties with Paramount Pictures last week in an unusually public dispute, has signed a two-year financing deal with an investment partnership headed by Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder.

The deal between Cruise/Wagner Productions and First & Goal LLC covers overhead and development, which will allow Cruise and producing partner Paula Wagner to run their company and make deals to produce films, some conceivably starring Cruise.

Financial terms were not disclosed for the pact, which has an option to renew for a longer term.

Cruise/Wagner still must find someone to finance production of those films and a company to distribute them.

Previously, Paramount had the first right to finance and distribute Cruise/Wagner films. In exchange, Paramount paid the producers as much as $10 million per year for salaries, expenses and discretionary spending. Paramount had offered a much lower amount to renew the deal, closer to $2 million annually, before talks broke off.

First & Goal was set up specifically to invest in Cruise/Wagner. Snyder also heads an investment partnership that controls amusement park operator Six Flags Inc., among other companies. Former ESPN executive Mark Shapiro, who heads Six Flags, will oversee the investment in Cruise/Wagner, the companies said Monday.

“This gives us the opportunity to work with all the studios and broadens our base,” Wagner said Monday.

Long-simmering tensions between Cruise/Wagner and Paramount Pictures erupted last week with a public spanking of Cruise by Sumner Redstone, chairman of Paramount parent Viacom Inc.

Redstone broke ties with Cruise through an interview in the Wall Street Journal, saying the actor’s public behavior, including jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey’s couch, and his aggressive defense of Scientology, alienated moviegoers and cost Paramount money at the box office.

Redstone claimed Cruise’s antics cost Paramount between $100 million and $150 million in ticket sales for the actor’s latest film, “Mission: Impossible III.”

Wagner slammed Redstone last week, calling his comments “surprising” and unbusinesslike. She said last week it was their decision not to renew their 14-year partnership with Paramount, choosing instead to follow a long-standing desire to make smaller, character-driven films on their own.

On Monday, Shapiro brushed off any discussion of Cruise’s behavior or Redstone’s comments, preferring to focus on Cruise’s proven box-office appeal.

“We’re entrepreneurs and we like exploring new opportunities that present an excellent chance for success and innovation,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro and Wagner emphasized that Cruise’s last two films for Paramount, “War of the Worlds,” and “Mission: Impossible III,” grossed about $1 billion worldwide combined.

“We believe that Cruise and Wagner are a terrific investment,” Shapiro said. “The track record speaks for itself.”

The deal was brokered by talent agency CAA, which represents Cruise. Discussions with First & Goal began earlier this month, the companies said.

Last week, Wagner said her company had secured financing from two hedge funds to produce films. She declined to comment on those arrangements Monday.

Monday’s deal does continues to allow Cruise to star in films produced or distributed by any studio, the same terms he had under his deal with Paramount.

About: Cruise/Wagner Productions

Cruise/Wagner Productions, also abbreviated as C/W Productions, was an American independent film production company. It was founded by actor Tom Cruise and his agent Paula Wagner in July 1992. Wagner had been representing Cruise for eleven years before the formation of C/W Productions. The company has grossed more than $2.9 billion in box office proceeds since its inception.

World Trending

Cruise/Wagner Productions

Cruise/Wagner Productions, also abbreviated as C/W Productions was an American independent film production company. It was founded by actor Tom Cruise and his agent Paula Wagner in July 1992.

Basic Details of Agency

Founders of production.

Wagner and Tom Cruise were the founders, it has grossed more than  $2.9 billion  in box office proceeds since its inception. Wagner had been representing Cruise for eleven years before the formation of C/W Productions.

In October 1992, Cruise/Wagner Productions signed an exclusive three-year multi-picture financing and distribution deal with  Paramount Pictures .

In November 2006,  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  came to Cruise/Wagner with a deal that gave them a percentage of the ownership in United Artists in an effort to revive the floundering production company. This deal fell apart when Wagner left the studio in August 2008.

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Why Tom Cruise joining forces with Warner Bros. is a bigger deal than you think

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Tom Cruise has joined Warner Bros. to develop and produce feature films together. Sounds like a boring behind-the-scenes detail about film production, but it’s actually quite a significant move in the career of the world’s biggest action star.

Cruise, 61, who rose to fame in the 80s for starring in blockbusters like 1986’s Top Gun has gained a reputation in the 21st century as the last of the great action movie stars for his commitment to death-defying stunts and propping up the Mission Impossible series alongside hits like 2022’s sequel Top Gun: Maverick .

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For those in the know, they’ll be aware that Cruise has done a lot of these films through his own production company Cruise/Wagner Productions, started in 1993. Through Cruise/Wagner, the actor has produced all of the Mission Impossible films alongside playing the lead role, alongside the Jack Reacher series and other films.

Cruise is one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood and his films have grossed over $13 billion (nearly €12 billion) worldwide. Many of his most successful films have been produced alongside Paramount Pictures as a distributor. Paramount ended their 14-year relationship with Cruise in 2006 after Mission: Impossible III , but reunited in 2011 for the next film in the series, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol .

The announcement that Cruise has now tied his mast to the Warner Bros. ship is therefore a big boon for the production studio. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has said he wanted to work with more top talent both in front and behind the camera, and you can’t get much bigger than Cruise.

Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group’s Co-Chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy said: “We are thrilled to be working with Tom, an absolute legend in the film industry. Our vision, from day one, has been to rebuild this iconic studio to the heights of its glory days”.

De Luca and Abdy continued that when they first sat down with Zaslav, he told them: “We are on a mission to bring Warner Bros. back – we have the best resources, storytelling IP, and talent in the business – and we need to bring Tom Cruise back to Warner Bros!”

Cruise himself said that “I have great respect and admiration for David, Pam, Mike, and the entire team at Warner Bros. Discovery and their commitment to movies, movie fans, and the theatrical experience,” in a Warner Bros. press release. “I look forward to making great movies together!” he continued.

Zaslav's tenure as CEO of Warner Bros. has not been without controversy. Particularly for his decisions to slash budgets, removal of TV series from streaming ( Westworld ) and shelving films altogether ( Batgirl).

Batgirl movie shelved by Warner Bros.: a potential death knell for the superhero genre?

It’s unclear as of now how this deal between Cruise and Warner Bros. will manifest and what films will follow.

The actor-studio deal could also have wider ramifications around industry rumours that Warner Bros. and Paramount are considering a merger . Zaslav met Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish in December about a potential deal between the $29 billion (€26 billion) and $10 billion (€9 billion) companies, respectively.

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Take That, Sumner! Tom Cruise Gets His Own Studio

Tom Cruise and his producing partner Paula Wagner at the Japanese premiere of Mission Impossible III

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1. The Last Samurai

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5. Minority Report

6. Mission: Impossible II

7. Mission: Impossible III

8. Vanilla Sky

9. Death Race

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11. Suspect Zero

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15. Without Limits

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17. 'War of the Worlds': Production Diaries, West Coast - War

18. Steven Spielberg and the Original 'War of the Worlds'

19. Designing the Enemy: Tripods and Aliens

20. We Are Not Alone

21. Scoring 'War of the Worlds'

22. hitting it hard.

23. 'War of the Worlds': Previsualization

24. 'War of the Worlds': Characters - The Family Unit

25. 'War of the Worlds': Production Diaries, East Coast - Exile

26. The H.G. Wells Legacy

27. 'War of the Worlds': Revisiting the Invasion

28. 'War of the Worlds': Production Diaries, West Coast - Destruction

29. 'War of the Worlds': Production Diaries, East Coast - Beginning

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Mission Improbable: Tom Cruise as Mogul

By Richard Siklos

• March 4, 2007

Los Angeles

ARRAYED in a glass case in the lobby of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s headquarters in Century City are contracts from the creation of the United Artists studio in 1919. The documents bear the signatures of the Tinseltown legends Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and D. W. Griffith. Also ensconced in the case is one of United Artists’ first income statements: sales of $21 million in today’s dollars, a fair sum for the early 20th century but barely enough to finance even a single low-budget film now.

Some things never change. Asked how United Artists’ early revenues compare with what it takes in today, Harry E. Sloan, chief executive of the studio’s parent company, MGM, replies: “We don’t have any yet. It’s all cost.”

If Mr. Sloan has his way, however, that will soon change. Last November, he signed the latest set of United Artists contracts with yet another Hollywood heavyweight determined to chart his own financial and creative course: Tom Cruise. Mr. Cruise and his business partner, the veteran film producer Paula Wagner, have signed on to run United Artists with what insiders describe as a relatively free hand for a term of at least five years. In exchange, MGM has granted the pair about a one-third stake in the dormant studio without asking them to invest a penny in it.

Ms. Wagner is the chief executive of UA — as the studio is commonly known — while Mr. Cruise bears no official title except, perhaps, the world’s most famous movie star. Unlike Ms. Wagner, Mr. Cruise does not draw a salary from UA, according to a person with direct knowledge of the arrangement. The idea is that his ownership stake alone will align the interests of Tom Cruise the actor with Tom Cruise the studio grandee.

“I can’t put a number on it yet,” says Bert Fields, the Hollywood rainmaker and lawyer who represents Mr. Cruise and Ms. Wagner. “I will tell you this: If their pictures succeed, it will be worth a very large amount.”

Still, in a town awash in news releases written in magic ink on fairy parchment, Hollywood does not know exactly what to make of the idea of Cruise-as-mogul — or, for that matter, how exactly the fast-moving Mr. Sloan plans to deploy UA and the deep pockets of private equity investors to yank MGM back from the brink of obscurity.

Moreover, Mr. Cruise stands at the end of a long line of creative potentates in Hollywood, including Burt Lancaster, Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, Sidney Poitier, Steve McQueen and Steven Spielberg, who have tried to follow the original Chaplin-Fairbanks-Pickford blueprint by overseeing their own mini-studios. All of them experienced mixed results as they ran up against the brutal economics of a hit-and-miss industry in which independents often lack the size needed to overcome the financial vagaries of filmmaking.

Though the relationship between studios and stars has grown ever more tangled in modern Hollywood, one thing has stayed the same: what many stars most covet — along with fame and fortune — is creative autonomy from their corporate overlords. For actors like Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio, that has meant deals as independent producers that give them a stronger hand in developing their pet projects and bestow production fees and credits on them.

Until last year, the gold standard of such deals was an arrangement between Cruise/Wagner Productions and Paramount, the studio where Mr. Cruise, 44, had starred in many of his biggest pictures. But that relationship vaporized in a mushroom cloud last August, after what many critics called Mr. Cruise’s erratic behavior during his promotional tour for the spy thriller “Mission: Impossible III.”

Sumner M. Redstone, the chairman of Viacom , Paramount’s owner, contended that he had fired Mr. Cruise for “inappropriate” behavior that had hurt his studio’s bottom line. Mr. Cruise’s defenders accused Mr. Redstone of grandstanding and said that, actually, both sides had already been planning to part amicably.

Regardless, the media firestorm and scrutiny of Mr. Cruise’s career and conduct only intensified when, two months later, Mr. Cruise and Ms. Wagner landed at United Artists, which through different owners has hewed in varying degrees to its founding ideals of artistic hegemony.

The producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who worked with Mr. Cruise early in his career on the film “Top Gun,” said that the news of the move “kind of shocked Hollywood.”

Mr. Bruckheimer added: “You have a star and his producing partner actually running a studio. That hasn’t happened in I don’t know how many years.”

BEFORE it became part of MGM in 1981, United Artists spawned the “James Bond,” “Pink Panther” and “Rocky” franchises and, during one prolific run in the 1970s, won three consecutive best-picture Oscars for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Rocky” and “Annie Hall.”

A promotional reel that Mr. Sloan shows investors in MGM’s penthouse screening room makes plain that many of the best-known titles in the current MGM film library — from “The Apartment” to “West Side Story” — were United Artists releases.

The lore is not lost on Mr. Cruise. At a recent party, Peter Bart, the editor in chief of Variety, greeted Mr. Cruise and mentioned that for a two-year period in the 1980s he, too, had been a senior executive at United Artists. “I know,” Mr. Cruise replied instantly, and proceeded to list all the movies made under Mr. Bart’s tenure, Mr. Bart recalled in an interview.

Discussing their fledgling plans to revive one of the more storied names in filmdom — and considering the maelstrom in which the whole idea was hatched — United Artists’ new chieftains acknowledge in interviews that they have stitched together their business plan on the fly because, they say, they are in a hurry and have a lot to prove.

As a result, UA in its new incarnation is a basket of contradictions and question marks: it’s a filmmaking enterprise ultimately owned by a studio, MGM, that had only recently vowed to get out of that line of work to focus on the less risky and more predictable — albeit far less sexy — business of marketing and distribution. Moreover, it’s a small studio co-managed by one of the world’s ultimate “big movie” movie stars.

“UA is in the shadows here,” Ms. Wagner insists. At the new studio, she adds, “It’s the film that’s the star.”

Everyone involved cautions that it is still early and that the studio’s course is not fully set; its first production, a political thriller called “Lions for Lambs,” directed by Robert Redford and starring Mr. Redford, Mr. Cruise and Meryl Streep, is being shot now and is scheduled for a November release. If all goes as planned, United Artists will announce as soon as this week a debt financing of $400 million to $500 million to finance its first slate of pictures, backing that includes $100 million from MGM itself.

Beyond saying that the plan is to live up to the United Artists legacy of making talent feel like partners rather than employees, and a goal of releasing four to six films a year distributed by MGM, Ms. Wagner says that little else is set in stone.

“There are no absolutes,” she says over brunch at the Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel. “Under no circumstances am I making any proclamations or declarations — we’re new; we’re 100 days here.”

Ms. Wagner carries herself with the poise of someone who once worked as a theater actress and a talent agent before becoming Mr. Cruise’s collaborator and the public face of his entrepreneurial and filmmaking ambitions. Mr. Cruise declined to be interviewed for this article, because, Ms. Wagner says, he prefers that she speak publicly about their mutual business interests.

As far as those first 100 days go, Ms. Wagner says their new company is on track: it is hiring new employees, has “Lions for Lambs” under way, has just optioned a hot book, “The Birthday Party” by Stanley N. Alpert, and is taking meetings and pitches all over town. The plan is to make films of varying budgets and genres. But anything that is projected to cost more than about $60 million needs a green light from MGM.

Mr. Cruise is not obligated to appear in any UA films, though the incentive of owning a large chunk of the print, as well as the bragging rights and perquisites that entails, is meant to be a strong motivator for him to ply his “day job — or night job,” as Ms. Wagner puts it, at UA.

In the case of “Lions for Lambs,” MGM is providing the film’s $35 million budget. Mr. Cruise, Mr. Redford and Ms. Streep have all deferred their usual upfront fees or percentages of gross revenue in exchange for cumulatively splitting half of the film’s profit with UA.

Ms. Wagner would not discuss the numbers, joking that she “never discusses her budgets or her age.” But she said that the structure was typical of how she envisions UA: as a trusted partner rather than as a big studio with arcane accounting that prompts agents to insist that their most bankable clients are paid up front.

Of course, Ms. Wagner is now something of an expert in the perks and pitfalls of life at a big studio. All she needs to do is flash back to last fall, to the Cruise/Wagner Productions offices on the Paramount lot. Cruise/Wagner was initially fueled by the adrenalin of Mr. Cruise’s star power in the early 1990s, when he anchored hits like “A Few Good Men,” “The Firm” and “Days of Thunder.”

Over nearly 15 years, Cruise/Wagner produced 13 films, aided in the latter years by a plush overhead deal from Paramount in which Paramount provided office space and underwrote their projects in exchange for a first crack at bringing them to the screen. The result of that collaboration was films approaching a gross of $3 billion at the box office, with Cruise/Wagner having particular success in shepherding the lucrative “Mission: Impossible” franchise to the big screen for Paramount.

But last year Viacom was in transition, and the studio’s new overseers, the Paramount chief executive, Brad Grey and the Viacom chief, Tom Freston — like other Hollywood chieftains — believed that they were spending too much money on too many co-producers. Where Cruise/Wagner was concerned, they reasoned that the studio could just as easily work out a deal with Mr. Cruise to shoot another “Mission: Impossible” installment by hiring him and Ms. Wagner as producers, without subsidizing their company.

What’s more, Cruise/Wagner’s track record was strong with films starring Mr. Cruise, but those that did not feature the actor — pictures like “The Others,” “Elizabethtown,” “Shattered Glass” and “Narc” — had “mixed” commercial success, according to an executive with knowledge of the discussions.

“Any producer who makes more than one or two films in their lifetime — with the exception perhaps of Tom Cruise — has a ‘mixed’ thing,” Ms. Wagner says when asked if that was a fair assessment of her partnership with Mr. Cruise. Viacom declined to comment.

As the mood in Hollywood changed and Paramount offered a greatly reduced production deal, Ms. Wagner says that she and Mr. Cruise decided that it was time for a change. Following the lead of other successful producers like Ivan Reitman and Joel Silver, they wanted to tap into the new Wall Street and hedge fund money flowing into Hollywood.

Under these new business arrangements, big-name producers can control nearly every aspect of filmmaking — even the most exalted perk, the ability to greenlight a picture. Big studios remain crucial to a film’s success under this new model, but largely as marketers and distributors.

ONE Wednesday morning last August, Mr. Redstone, in an interview that appeared on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, announced that he had fired Mr. Cruise.

Mr. Cruise’s antics, Mr. Redstone contended, had cost him money.

Indeed, while “Mission: Impossible III” grossed close to $134 million at the box office domestically, it fell $81 million shy of the previous installment. And the roughly $70 million that Mr. Cruise took home as his share of the film’s worldwide receipts meant that he probably earned more than Paramount did on the picture, said an executive with direct knowledge of the film’s financial results. Ms. Wagner and Viacom would not confirm that calculation.

Mr. Redstone’s comments came in the wake of Mr. Cruise’s statements about his faith in Scientology, his public declarations of love for his girlfriend — and now wife — Katie Holmes, and his crusade against prescription antidepressants. Ms. Wagner bristles when she recalls the episode. “Tom Cruise, in 10 months, for Paramount Pictures, generated just under $1 billion,” she says, referring to the box office take of his last two films, “Mission: Impossible III” and “War of the Worlds.”

Mr. Cruise’s so-called firing was extraordinary in Hollywood — and nothing personal, Mr. Redstone has said in subsequent interviews. Mr. Cruise’s camp says that his contract had merely expired and that he was already planning to move on. That issue aside, the incident raised a salient question in filmdom: had the pay for talent grown out of kilter with the financial realities of the marketplace?

In the uncertain days that followed, Cruise/Wagner announced a deal to develop films for a company backed by Daniel Snyder, the investor who owns the Washington Redskins, but it was hardly the big move that showed the world that they were unfazed. Friends of Mr. Cruise, meanwhile, advised him to focus less on his production business and more on picking smart follow-ups to “Mission: Impossible III” so he could put the bad publicity behind him.

FOR Harry Sloan, meanwhile, the raging headlines about Mr. Cruise gave him a flash of inspiration. After taking charge of MGM in 2005 at the behest of its main investors, Providence Equity Partners and the Texas Pacific Group, Mr. Sloan set out to revive the company, which also counts Sony and Comcast as investors. The private equity firms had initially backed the Sony Corporation’s $5 billion takeover of MGM from the investor Kirk Kerkorian in 2004, with the strategy that MGM would be largely shuttered and its 4,000-film library fed through the distribution pipeline of Sony Pictures.

But the investors, unhappy with MGM’s performance under the Sony strategy, changed course after a year and installed Mr. Sloan, an MGM director, as the studio’s chief executive. Mr. Sloan, an entertainment lawyer turned entrepreneur, founded SBS Broadcasting in Europe in the early 1990s and sold it three years ago for $2.6 billion. The venture made him a tidy fortune, an undisclosed portion of which he has reinvested in MGM.

In addition to moving the distribution of MGM’s home video business to 20th Century Fox, Mr. Sloan wanted to shore up MGM’s own television channels around the world by cutting deals with various small and independent producers. Mr. Sloan, who once served as chairman of Lion’s Gate Entertainment, also wanted to revive MGM’s movie-making capabilities, but without the expense of layers of creative executives and producers.

In an interview, Mr. Sloan estimated that big studios spent as much as $100 million apiece annually on films that are never released, and he called Hollywood’s film development deals “an enormous welfare project” for writers, agents and producers.

Mr. Sloan considered selling the UA brand name because it was doing nothing more for MGM than gathering dust in a closet. But when he saw Mr. Cruise’s broad smile flashed across the evening news during the Paramount dust-up, he decided to give him and Ms. Wagner the UA shingle to hang.

“You can’t lose,” Mr. Sloan says of the deal with Mr. Cruise and Ms. Wagner. “There are plenty of things I’m doing that have plenty of risk and downside. This is not one of them.”

So while the news media buzzed with speculation about whether Mr. Cruise’s career would be dented or even destroyed, Harry Sloan placed calls to Mr. Fields, the lawyer. He also phoned Mr. Cruise’s longtime representatives at Creative Artists Agency, whose co-chairman, Rick Nicita, is Ms. Wagner’s husband. (Ms. Wagner herself had been Mr. Cruise’s agent at the firm before becoming his production partner.)

Knowing that Mr. Cruise and Ms. Wagner would need to exit the Paramount lot in a hurry, Mr. Sloan offered them office space on the 11th floor of the MGM tower. Over the next two months, the three conducted a series of private meetings at Mr. Sloan’s office and home that involved contingents of lawyers and agents.

What emerged was what Ms. Wagner describes as a hybrid between a studio and a production company. Rather than the overhead deal they had at Paramount, Mr. Sloan proposed establishing an autonomous studio within a larger studio — a structure akin to the relationship that Mr. Spielberg’s studio, DreamWorks, now has with Paramount, but with real ownership attached.

“We all answer to somebody about something,” Ms. Wagner says. “It’s really the number of people you answer to. In this structure, Tom and I really answer to ourselves.”

According to people involved in the talks, the question of whether Mr. Cruise, whom Mr. Sloan did not know previously, was past his prime or a loose cannon came up, particularly among MGM’s private equity investors.

But Mr. Sloan concluded that Mr. Cruise was still a bankable star and filmmaker. Kelvin L. Davis, a partner at Texas Pacific who serves on MGM’s executive committee, said he came away from his initial meeting with Mr. Cruise impressed by his business acumen and his curiosity about the financial goals of his prospective backers.

“One of the things Tom said to me that impressed me early on,” Mr. Davis said, “was that he thought his artistic performance, his acting abilities, were best displayed when he felt a real sense of partnership with those who he was doing business with.”

After weeks of preliminary negotiations, Mr. Cruise met with Mr. Sloan in his office for the first time last October. During a meeting that lasted four hours, Mr. Cruise did not jump off the bronze sofa he was sitting on. Rather, he listened intently as Mr. Sloan proposed giving UA some of MGM’s franchise films to produce and suggested that its first project be the next “Terminator.”

Mr. Sloan recalls that Mr. Cruise responded, “Let’s not do something derivative” for a first film. “Let’s do something original.”

Since then, a partnership has been struck and Mr. Sloan has been to Mr. Cruise’s gala wedding in Italy. Mr. Sloan says he is convinced that Mr. Cruise has both the movie-making ability and the work ethic to make a success of UA. “He is driven, professional and a total perfectionist,” Mr. Sloan says. “I thought he was me in a lot of ways.”

Mr. Sloan calls his venture with Mr. Cruise an “interesting experiment” that he might extend to other dormant MGM brands like Orion Pictures. He also says that other artists could unite with Mr. Cruise and Ms. Wagner as equity owners of UA.

ONE of the lingering questions about UA is how well Ms. Wagner will fare in putting out four to six films a year, when she and Mr. Cruise previously averaged just one movie a year as producers aligned with Paramount. It is also unclear how Mr. Cruise will manage his loyalties and time among the many professional roles he juggles both inside and outside of UA. Last month, for instance, the Hollywood trades reported that he plans to make a comedy with Ben Stiller as the co-star at 20th Century Fox.

Mr. Cruise isn’t saying. But the answer to questions about his commitment may lie in another meeting he and Ms. Wagner held in Mr. Sloan’s office just a few days before the deal was announced last November.

The centerpiece of the meeting was a four-hour pow-wow with Jonathan M. Nelson, the chief executive of Providence Equity, whose 29 percent stake in MGM makes it the studio’s single largest shareholder. According to two people who would not agree to be named because it was a private meeting, Mr. Nelson was there to scope out Mr. Cruise’s intentions for UA before signing off on the deal.

At the meeting, Mr. Nelson declined an invitation to read the script for “Lions for Lambs,” these people said. But he was reassured by other things he saw. Like Mr. Sloan, Mr. Nelson was impressed by Mr. Cruise’s sense of purpose and the fact that the star had never responded publicly to Mr. Redstone’s lambasting. Instead, it became clear that Mr. Cruise had chosen a different way to fire back at the Viacom chairman: he was determined to let his results be his revenge.

An article last Sunday about United Artists misidentified one of the investors in its parent company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is the Texas Pacific Group, not Thomas H. Lee Partners. The article also referred incorrectly to the title of UA’s first film under its new managers in two references. It will be “Lions for Lambs,” not “Lambs for Lions.”

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Paula Wagner: Tom Cruise’s Former Producing Partner Explains What A Producer Actually Does

Paula Wagner is an unfamiliar name for many film-goers, but if you watch the first three Mission:Impossible  films, you’ll notice they’re made by Cruise/Wagner Productions. Wagner formed the production company with Tom Cruise in 1993. The joint venture marked Wagner’s transition from casting agent at CAA to producer. And Cruise/Wagner Productions gave Cruise more control over projects he acted in, and more of the profits.

Under an exclusive deal with Paramount Pictures, Cruise/Wagner Productions produced every one of Cruise’s films from  Mission: Impossible (1996) to Valkyrie  (2008). Other features made by the production company included The Others, Without Limits, Narc, Shattered Glass, Elizabethtown,  and  Death Race. While Cruise/Wagner closed it’s doors in 2008, after Paramount boss, Sumner Redstone, pulled the plug on his relationship with the production company, both Cruise and Wagner were established as powerful producers, with the lucrative partnership grossing more than $2.9 billion at the box office.

Since then, Wagner has produced two other Cruise projects– Jack Reacher  and  Jack Reacher: Never Go Back– and moved into independent projects, including Chadwick Bosman’s Marshall (2017),  a well-received true story about the first black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall.

Wagner, as a result, knows how to co-ordinate the full gamut of film projects from big budget to smaller character-focused productions. In the following video by CookeOpticsTV below, she explains what the role of the film producer is.

Tags: mission: impossible , producer , tom cruise

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What Businesses Does Tom Cruise Own? Actor to Mogul Business Ventures Unveiled

Tom Cruise isn’t just a powerhouse on the silver screen; he’s also a savvy businessman with an impressive portfolio. While he’s best known for his blockbuster hits, there’s more to Cruise than meets the eye.

From his production company to his stake in various entertainment ventures, Cruise has spread his wings far beyond the realm of acting. Let’s take a peek at the business side of this Hollywood icon and discover what enterprises he’s got his hands in.

Cruise/Wagner Productions

In the heart of Hollywood’s soaring skyscrapers and star-studded Walk of Fame, Cruise/Wagner Productions stands as a testament to Tom Cruise’s entrepreneurial prowess. Founded in 1993, the production company is a partnership between Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner, a former talent agent with an equally keen eye for cinematic hits. This dynamic duo has steered the company to remarkable achievements , producing several box-office successes that have ingratiated Cruise not just as an actor but as an influential producer.

The company’s filmography is impressive, boasting titles that have become synonymous with high-octane action and compelling narratives. Mission: Impossible —a franchise that redefined the spy genre—is perhaps the brightest jewel in their crown, grossing billions globally and cementing Cruise’s status as a producer who can deliver both critical acclaim and commercial success.

While action may be their bread and butter, Cruise/Wagner Productions hasn’t shied away from investing in an array of genres, demonstrating Tom Cruise’s ability to identify and produce films that resonate with a diverse audience. From the haunting psychological drama Vanilla Sky to the historical thriller Valkyrie , the company’s versatility is evident.

Cruise and Wagner have fostered strong connections within the industry, enabling them to attract some of the most celebrated directors and A-list actors to their projects. Their knack for creating collaborative environments has not only resulted in high-quality entertainment but has also nurtured enduring relationships in the ever-evolving landscape of Hollywood.

As Cruise/Wagner Productions continues to establish its presence in the entertainment world, their ability to adapt and innovate remains key. With technology and audience preferences constantly changing, Tom Cruise’s business acumen keeps him ahead of the curve, ensuring that the company doesn’t just react to trends, but often sets them.

United Artists

Tom Cruise’s ambitions in the entertainment industry didn’t halt with the success of Cruise/Wagner Productions. In a move that showcased his deep understanding of the business, Cruise took a significant step by partnering with MGM in 2006 to resurrect the historic film studio United Artists. The legacy of United Artists, founded by cinema giants like Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, was now in the hands of one of Hollywood’s most driven actors.

Under Tom’s leadership, United Artists aimed to give artists more control and a collaborative space to create unique and compelling content. He took the creative helm, determined to steer the studio back into prominence by producing films that resonate with both critics and audiences. “Lions for Lambs” , featuring heavyweights like Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, was among the first films created under the revitalized banner.

While Cruise’s tenure with United Artists was brief, it left an indelible mark on the studio’s approach to filmmaking and business strategy. Despite stepping down from his executive role within a few years, the period marked by Cruise’s involvement brought forth critical discussions about independence and innovation in Hollywood’s dynamic ecosystem. His foray into the storied studio is yet another testament to his versatility, not just as an actor but as a filmmaker with a keen eye for both art and commerce.

United Artists also provided Tom Cruise with an avenue to further imprint his vision onto the industry, reinforcing the notion that celebrities can deftly navigate the complexities of Hollywood’s corporate side. It wasn’t just about starring in blockbusters but about nurturing a more artist-friendly environment — one where the story and the storytellers are valued components of the cinematic experience.

Tom Cruise Aviation

In his continuing pursuit of personal and professional excellence, Tom Cruise also took to the skies literally. His passion for aviation is well-known among fans and industry insiders alike. Cruise, a licensed pilot, owns a P-51 Mustang , a historic World War II fighter aircraft. Aside from the Mustang, he’s also the proud owner of a Gulfstream IV , a jet known for its luxury and speed.

Cruise’s fascination with aviation isn’t just for play; it’s an extension of his persona . He often pilots himself to film sets and has been known to engage in aerobatic maneuvers, bringing a sense of adventure to his travels. The investment in these aircraft is not only a nod to his love for flying but also speaks to his approach to business: private, efficient, and with a penchant for control.

Tom Cruise’s aviation assets stand as a testament to his commitment to his craft. He doesn’t simply play a pilot on-screen; he embodies the thrill-seeking, barrier-breaking characters that have made him a household name.

• P-51 Mustang: a showpiece of aviation history and personal nostalgia.
• Gulfstream IV: reflects luxury, speed, and the heights of business travel.

Aircraft ownership, for Cruise, isn’t merely a means of transport. It’s a statement —about his dedication to the craft, the value of time-saving practices in business, and his personal brand that prizes freedom and a capacity for unique experiences.

Aviation isn’t just a part of Cruise’s life; it’s an integral thread in the fabric of his being , weaving together the domains of his film career, his business ventures, and his personal aspirations. Like his United Artists initiative, Tom Cruise Aviation is yet another example of how he charts his own course, in the air and in the competitive skies of Hollywood.

Church of Scientology

While Tom Cruise’s endeavors in the entertainment and aviation sectors are well-known, his involvement with the Church of Scientology is another facet of his multifaceted life. He’s not just a member of this controversial organization but one of its most prominent advocates. His connection with Scientology has sparked curiosity and debate, but it’s evident that Cruise’s commitment is deep-rooted and personal.

Scientology’s Principles and Beliefs shape its members’ perspectives, and Cruise has often credited the Church for his successes and personal growth. The actor’s investment in the Church is more than just financial; it’s an intertwining of his life’s philosophies with the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, the Church’s founder.

Rumors have circulated that Cruise holds a significant position within the Church’s hierarchy, although these claims are often speculative. The Church’s tight-knit community values privacy, making it challenging to suss out the specifics of Cruise’s role. Regardless, his dedication to Scientology endures as a key aspect of his public persona.

The star’s association with Scientology extends beyond personal belief into the realm of business. There’s speculation that he has used his A-list status to champion Scientology-affiliated businesses. Influence and Networking within the Church could provide Cruise with unique business opportunities, though details on exact enterprises remain sparse due to the Church’s infamous secrecy.

Despite the Church’s contentious reputation, Cruise’s association with it has seemingly done little to dampen his career. In Hollywood, he’s as much a power player as ever, with the Church of Scientology accompanying him behind the scenes. It’s a testament to Cruise’s Teflon-like star power that his business interests continue to flourish amid the complexities of his spiritual affiliations.

Tom Cruise’s Real Estate Portfolio

Tom Cruise, a man known for his blockbuster smashes, also boasts a real estate portfolio as impressive as his filmography. They’ve often likened his collection of homes to the eclectic characters he’s portrayed—each property with a distinct personality and charm. Cruise’s investments span the map, signifying not just wealth but his penchant for privacy and excellence.

The Hollywood icon’s property holdings are nothing short of breathtaking. From the sprawling hills of Telluride, Colorado to the buzzing heart of New York City, Cruise’s choice in estates mirrors his adventurous spirit. His Telluride home, on the market for $39.5 million , is tucked away on over 298 acres of land, complete with a 10,000-square-foot main house that’s a monument to rustic luxury.

Down in sunny Florida, Cruise’s Clearwater apartment is strategically placed near the spiritual headquarters of the Church of Scientology. It’s reported that the building’s top floor, rumored to be his retreat, promises unobstructed views and a sanctuary from the paparazzi’s prying lenses.

Further west in Beverly Hills, the star’s former estate—a palatial spread once valued at around $30 million—vied for attention with the grandest of the golden state’s mansions. Although Cruise has since let go of this gem, the property bore witness to opulent parties and was a sterling example of extravagance.

While specifics about each property Cruise owns aren’t always public, it’s known that he has a knack for flipping his homes for a profit. Industry professionals speculate that beyond his star power, he possesses a shrewd sense of the real estate market. And with each strategic buy and sell, he cements his role not just as a leading man in films but as a savvy investor in the high-stakes world of real estate.

Tom Cruise’s business ventures are as varied and dynamic as his film career. From the skies to the silver screen and even into the realm of spirituality, he’s built an empire that mirrors his diverse interests and relentless drive. His properties aren’t just homes but investments that reflect his eye for excellence and privacy. Whether he’s in the cockpit of his P-51 Mustang or walking the halls of United Artists, Cruise’s entrepreneurial spirit is unmistakable. His deep ties with the Church of Scientology may stir up controversy, yet they’ve become an integral part of his identity. As Cruise continues to navigate the worlds of entertainment, aviation, and real estate, his ventures serve as a testament to his ambition and the breadth of his influence.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is tom cruise’s role with united artists.

Tom Cruise aims to empower artists by providing them with greater control over their projects, thereby fostering a platform for creating unique and innovative content within United Artists.

Does Tom Cruise own any aircraft?

Yes, Tom Cruise owns a vintage P-51 Mustang and a Gulfstream IV, reflecting his passion for aviation and his dedication to his personal interests and brand.

Is Tom Cruise involved with the Church of Scientology?

Tom Cruise is not only a member of the Church of Scientology but also one of its most prominent advocates, often crediting the Church for his professional successes and personal development.

What position does Tom Cruise hold in the Church of Scientology?

Cruise’s exact position within the Church of Scientology’s hierarchy remains undisclosed and is the subject of speculation due to the Church’s private nature.

Has Tom Cruise used his Church of Scientology connections in business?

While specific engagements are unverified, it is speculated that Tom Cruise has utilized his Church of Scientology network to support Scientology-affiliated businesses.

Has Cruise’s career been affected by his association with the Church of Scientology?

Despite the Church of Scientology’s controversial reputation, Tom Cruise’s career continues to prosper without any signs of being adversely impacted by his association with the Church.

Does Tom Cruise invest in real estate?

Tom Cruise possesses an extensive real estate portfolio, including properties in Telluride, New York City, Clearwater, and Beverly Hills, indicating his keen interest in real estate investment and his shrewdness in the market.

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He Had His Own Production Company - Fascinating Facts About Tom Cruise

Cruise and his agent, Paula Wagner, Co-founded a production company together in 1992. They called it “Cruise/Wagner Productions.” The company produced 1996’s “Mission: Impossible.” In 2008, they ended up closing the company because Paramount decided to stop working with them. It came after having grossed $3 billion at the box office, so we don’t think Cruise and Wagner had any hard feelings.

Their collaboration not only yielded substantial financial success but also provided a platform for the realization of their creative aspirations. The legacy of Cruise/Wagner Productions remains an important chapter in the career of Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner, showcasing their dedication to bringing captivating stories to the silver screen.

Cruise's Eleven

It's a known fact that Cruise had three wives, Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman, and Katie Holmes. Looking at them, they all seem to be very different people, and they might be, but the whole three do have one thing in common. They were all born eleven years apart from each other. Mimi was born in 1956, Nicole was born in 1967, and Kaite in 1978.

While it's purely coincidental, it sparks curiosity about whether Cruise's hypothetical future wife would follow the same pattern, potentially being born in 1989. However, only time will tell if this pattern holds any significance in Cruise's personal life.

His Idea of Success

A man like Tom Cruise literally has everything. He's worth 600$ million, which means there is nothing he could want that would be behind his means. But, if you ask the actor about his idea of success, you'd find that it's not about the money for him.

Winning for him is just doing your best. He knows that there is a lot he can't control, especially in the film industry, where there are directors, editors, and studios. By focusing on doing this, he embraces the process and challenges, recognizing that true success lies in personal growth, dedication, and the pursuit of excellence rather than the accumulation of wealth alone.

Acting Can Be Very Boring

We've never heard Tom himself admitting to it. In fact, most actors won't talk about it. They talk about the dramatic scenes or the action scenes they had to prepare for, but nobody talks about having to redo really boring shots. While filming the 1999 film "Eyes Wide Shut," Cruise was required to do 95 takes of the same moment. The moment was just walking through a door!

It's a testament to the meticulous attention to detail demanded by director Stanley Kubrick, who was known for his perfectionism. While such repetitive shots may not be the glamorous side of acting, they emphasize the dedication and professionalism required to achieve cinematic excellence.

Skydiving With His Mama

Tom Cruise has always been known for his adventurous spirit, and he took it to new heights by going skydiving with his mom. Yes, you read the title correctly. Tom Cruise went skydiving with his mom. It was while he was filming 1990's "Days of Thunder." It was Mother's Day, so naturally, Tom took his mom skydiving.

The event was captured on video, creating a memorable and exhilarating moment for both Cruise and his family, who were pleasantly surprised by this unexpected adventure. It's a testament to Cruise's close relationship with his mother and his penchant for creating unforgettable experiences.

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Tower Bridge

Mission: impossible (1996).

This is the place where Mission: Impossible starring Tom Cruise, Jon Voight and Emmanuelle Béart was filmed at Tower Bridge in London, United Kingdom. Start scrolling to find out more.

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Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London built between 1886 and 1894. The bridge crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and has become an iconic symbol of London.

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