Tom Cruise, UA pick up ‘Monster’
Tom Cruise and United Artists have acquired rights to serial-killer thriller “The Monster of Florence,” with Cruise attached to produce and possibly to star, according to Douglas Preston, author of the bestseller.
Preston and Italo journo Mario Spezi told Corriere della Sera they have inked with UA for a big-screen adaptation of their reconstruction of eight grisly double homicides believed to have been committed single-handedly between 1968 and 1985 in and around the Italian Renaissance gem.“It’s the biggest movie deal in my life,” the leading Italo daily quoted Preston as saying in a front page story. Previous Preston tomes made into movies include thriller “The Relic.”
“The film will have Florence and the Chianti as protagonists: two of the locations most beloved by Americans,” said Spezi, a Florentine crime reporter and “Monster” contributor, to Corriere.
- from Variety
Tom Cruise Is The Villain Of Shrek 4?
After his hilarious turn in Tropic Thunder, Tom Cruise’s comedic strategy for revitalizing his image seems to be on track. Next step in crafting Tom’s new public persona may be doing a little something for your kids, by voicing a character in Shrek 4.
Tonight I got an email from one of our regular sources at DreamWorks, whispering in my ear to let you know that Tom Cruise is being considered to voice one of the villains in Shrek Goes Fourth. The sequel is due out in 2010 and this time it’s being directed by Mike Mitchell, who is rumored to be something of a Tom Cruise fan. He also has a history of working with high-profile Scientologists. In 2005 he directed Kelly Preston in Sky High.
- from Cinemablend
An Anonymous attempt to ‘Save Katie’
When Katie Holmes’ Broadway show “All My Sons” opens Oct. 16, ticket holders won’t be the only ones in attendance. The anti-Scientology group Anonymous will be on hand for Holmes’ Broadway debut as well.
The group confirms that a protest will take place opening night. “We aren’t looking to shut it (“All My Sons”) down, we don’t have the power to do that, we just want to prove a point,” one spokesperson (who remains anonymous, natch) confirmed via phone.
Anonymous’ protests, when they take place in person (the group often launches Web-based protests) are easy to spot, thanks to the tell-tale masks Anonymous members wear. The group, which calls itself a “leaderless worldwide group of concerned citizens” recently picketed the Scientology Center on West 46th Street in New York.
- from MSNBC
German studio offers ‘Valkyrie’ extras settlement
A German film studio has offered to negotiate a settlement with a dozen extras who were injured on the set of the Tom Cruise film “Valkyrie,” despite their demands that the actor and his production company, United Artists, pay them $11 million.
“We have offered a settlement,” Charles Woebcken, president and chief executive of Studio Babelsberg AG, which co-produced the film with United Artists. “But they haven’t even reacted.”
Though United Artists did not hire them, the 12 extras sent the company a letter demanding $11 million for injuries when the door of a truck they were riding in during the film shoot in August 2007 fell open. At the time, reports said several suffered cuts, bruises and some broken bones.
A statement from Julie Polkes, spokeswoman for Cruise and United Artists, said the production company does not comment on “pending or threatened legal matters.”
“To date, no lawsuits have been filed against United Artists or Mr. Cruise, nor have any allegations been made of any involvement of Mr. Cruise in this incident,” the statement read. “All press reports and comments to the press stating otherwise and designed to generate sensational headlines are false.”
- from Yahoo
Tom Cruise talks Paula Wagner, UA and Valkyrie
“I love Paula Wagner but she wants to produce elsewhere and in her own venue and I don’t intend to stand in her way. I’ll say this of her leaving United Artists — whatever Paula wants is what I want her to have! And I hope we’ll continue working together on future projects.” So spoke Tom Cruise on the phone with me this week. He added, cryptically: “I don’t run United Artists; I just own it.” It’s always fun to talk to Tom who tells me that his now “controversial” film about the German resistance attempt to assassinate Adolph Hitler in World War II is coming out on Dec. 26. All those critics who have panned the project, “Valkyrie,” in advance, should know that nothing can deter Tom from his belief in this story. He says, “It’s original. It’s suspenseful. The writers Chris McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander are just great and I can’t say enough good things about the director Bryan Singer. I first met him at the ‘Mission: Impossible’ premiere and we’ve been hoping to work together ever since. (Singer is the man who did “X-Men” and “Superman Returns.”
WHEN I asked Tom why he felt so many people in the business have gone after the “Valkyrie” project as if it’s a bad idea or something historically obscene, he sighed: “It just doesn’t make sense to me either. The moment I read the screenplay I knew it was an important story and as it’s a true tale of heroic resistance to one of the great villains of history, I can’t imagine that people won’t want to see it.”
I ASKED Tom if he will continue doing comedies on the heels of his “character” impersonation as a fat, horrid studio executive in Ben Stiller’s “Tropic Thunder?” He laughed, “Well, I’m always looking for something new and Ben’s movie is hilarious. He and I are old friends and he is a really good director, so originally I said I’d do it just for friendship. But it turned out great. I actually love comedy and I did it in ‘Risky Business’ so I’ll do more if it presents itself. I’m also always looking for a good love story and I think I have one in a coming international thriller called ‘The Tourist.’ I believe I will be doing that.”
I told Tom I was looking forward to his wife’s debut on Broadway in the revival of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons.” He said, “Things are going really well for Katie and we’ll see you on opening night, Sept. 18.” I congratulated moviedom’s big star on his little baby girl. He began to burble: “Oh, yes, she’s so charming; she’s so beautiful; she’s just great!” (That was Daddy talking, not the formidable icon who has made billions of dollars for Hollywood since 1983.)
- from
Posted
August 28th, 2008Filed
Backlot
Extras seek $11 million from Tom Cruise after accident
Twelve movie extras are seeking $11 million in damages from Tom Cruise and his production company after suffering broken bones, cuts and bruises in the filming of World War Two picture “Valkyrie” in Berlin last year.
The extras were injured on August 19, 2007, when the side panel of a period German army truck burst open as it drove around a corner in central Berlin.
A lawyer for the extras told Reuters Television on Tuesday that witness statements indicated the truck’s side panel had not been properly secured.
Cruise was not on the set at the time.
“A new letter has been sent to Tom Cruise, (business partner) Paula Wagner and United Artists, in which we set out the facts of the case again and put a figure on the legal demands of our clients … of $11 million,” said lawyer Ariane Bluttner.
“Valkyrie” is named after the codename for a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler concocted by senior German military officers during World War Two. Cruise plays ringleader Claus von Stauffenberg.
The film’s original release date has been postponed to December 26 from July 4 this year.
- from Yahoo
Tom Cruise and Sam Raimi awake ‘Sleeper’
As Tom Cruise goes about writing the next chapter in his career, he’s developing an interest in comic book movies. Together with Sam Raimi, he is setting up “Sleeper” at Warner Bros. Cruise is loosely attached to star in the adaptation of the DC Comics/Wildstorm comic that Raimi would produce with his Star Road Entertainment partner Josh Donen.
Written by Ed Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips, “Sleeper,” which ran from 2003-05, centers on an operative whose fusion with an alien artifact makes him impervious to pain and allows him to pass it on to others through skin contact. He is placed undercover in a villainous organization by an intelligence agency and falls for a member of the group, named Miss Misery.
- from THR
Statement From Harry E. Sloan, Chairman and CEO, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
“After reading erroneous reports about Tom Cruise and United Artists, I would like to clarify that we are honored that he will continue as our full partner in control of UA. He is in the middle of one of the greatest careers our industry has ever seen and one that will continue at the top of United Artists Entertainment.”
Paula Wagner leaves Tom Cruise’s United Artists
Is it all about the money?
Paula Wagner on Wednesday announced that she will be exiting as chief executive officer of United Artists.
She will retain an ownership interest in UA.
Wagner’s departure raises questions about the future of United Artists — and what will happen to the $500 million Merrill Lynch revolving fund that was allotted for UA films but that has barely been tapped.
Since Wagner and Tom Cruise became co-owners of the company with MGM, Wagner tried to greenlight movies but frequently butted heads with MGM. Harry Sloan was concentrating on his own slate, which he was developing with head of production Mary Parent, and trying to raise financing for MGM pics.
MGM execs insist that Wagner could have greenlit anything she wanted but wasn’t developing aggressively enough.
It’s possible the studio will once again go into hibernation and that the UA coin will go to MGM. However, one studio source insisted UA isn’t going to fold, adding that MGM couldn’t disband the division and tap its Merrill Lynch financing even if wanted to because the funds were raised specifically for UA-generated projects.
- from Variety
Flop or Oscar contender? ‘Valkyrie’ cruises back to ‘08 slate
As if Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner weren’t making enough news today, their “Valkyrie” is back on the 2008 slate. MGM has moved the film to open Dec. 26, instead of the Feb. 13 date that was previously announced. - from Variety