You might recall that Tom Cruise was once very close to starring in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, probalbly in the Brad Pitt role, but things ultimately didn’t work out. That doesn’t mean the desire for the two of them to work together has gone away, and rumors sprang up last week that Cruise could join Tarantino’s final film, The Movie Critic. Well, according to a new Variety piece, that could very well be the plan.
The news comes in an extensive piece on Warner Bros. and the ballooning budget of Todd Phillips’ Joker Folie à Deux. Cruise has entered a non-exclusive strategic partnership with the studio, and recently met with studio chiefs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca about potential projects. One of those was a role in The Movie Critic, while another option was the long-awaited Edge of Tomorrow sequel. I’m pretty sure that movie will never happen, but I digress.
An expensive bidding war for the distribution rights to The Movie Critic is expected, and Warner Bros. is sure to be in the mix. If Tarantino and Cruise want it badly enough, Warner Bros. is going to make sure that this happens.
There are so many layers to this, with things that could work in the deal’s favor and others that don’t. But here’s one thing that caught my attention; David Zaslav and the potential sale of Warner Bros…
“But sources who have done recent business with the studio say the mandate to spare no expense to land big talent comes via Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
“The strategy at Warner Bros. right now and the reason they made some of these big star deals is they’re basically playing with other people’s money,” says one insider. “They’re shopping for Quentin or Cruise with the notion they can use it as a shiny object that is going to be additive when Zaslav sells the company.”
Another source says that Cruise really wants to start branching out and doing more than action movies again, including a possible reunion with Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed him to his last Oscar nomination for Magnolia.
So there’s a lot in the cards here, and following the manuevers of Warner Bros. is going to be very interesting.