Paramount Dumps Tom Cruise Citing Behavior

What's the lesson here? Don't change your publicist and don't make Summer Redstone mad. Just before the recent onslaught of unusual behavior, Tom Cruise fired his publicist Tom Kingsley, who many think had kept the outspoken movie star "under control" for years. Replaced by Tom Cruise's sister, Lee Anne Devette, the role of publicist, the kind of person who's supposed to control random outbursts on talk show couches and generally unusual behavior, seemed to disappear in Tom Cruise's world. And now that unusual behavior has possibly cost Tom Cruise his gig with the studio he helped make, Paramount and it's not a split that's going to happen quietly.

Summer Redstone, the head of Paramount Pictures, announced the split in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal and didn't hold back at all, citing Tom Cruise's behavior as the reason for the business decision. Summer Redstone told the paper, "As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal. His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount." Redstone went on to say, "It's nothing to do with his acting ability. He's a terrific actor. But we don't think that someone who effects creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot."

Ouch. Stars and studios part ways in Hollywood all the time, but it was the rancorous nature of the Summer Redstone and Tom Cruise split that caused tinseltown tongues wagging this week. Friends and peers were quick to come to Tom Cruise's defense, noting Paramount's recent financial troubles (implying that they wouldn't have had the money to renew Tom Cruise's deal, erratic behavior or not) and predicting little impact on Tom Cruise's future.

Paula Wagner, Tom Cruise's long time producing partner, told USA Today, "I don't understand why this would be turned into a personal attack. Because that's what it is. That's letting one of your greatest assets walk out the door. It looks like bad business to me." Paula Wagner also adds fuel to the theory that it wasn't the behavior of Tom Cruise that ended the Paramount negotiations, telling the paper, "We had ceased negotiations. I'm not sure why this happened. You need to respect your artists. This isn't respectful to me. It's not something that dignifies a response."

Tom Cruise has made a library of successful films that have grossed more than $2.5 billion for Paramount. His most recent film and really the only one that could arguably have been affected by Tom Cruise's "creative suicide" was Mission Impossible III, a film that may not have delivered on astronomical expectations but did gross $133 million domestically and $390 million worldwide. It couldn't be a tiring franchise or inflated expectations that led to those numbers, could it? No, it must be Tom Cruise's erratic behavior.

As long as he stops jumping on couches, Tom Cruise will come out of this just fine. Jerry Bruckheimer, who made Top Gun and Days of Thunder with the star, told USA Today that "He's as viable an actor as he always was. He's a worldwide star, and a lot of people want to work with him, including me."

Tom Cruise will next be seen in The Eye with Jessica Alba and I Married a Witch with Famke Janssen, both scheduled for release next year and the movie that caused most of the Paramount rancor, Mission Impossible III, will be released on DVD October 30th.

[Sources: The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, IMDB]