Steven Spielberg said the action star "saved Hollywood" last year. Now Tom Cruise is taking his star power to Warner Bros. to produce a new wave of films.
ADVERTISEMENTTom 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.
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).
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.
