In an apparent recognition of the fact that the storied actor may be one of the last Hollywood creators to actually know what they’re doing when it comes to their industry, Warner Bros. Discovery has officially partnered with Tom Cruise to breathe new life into the studio’s screen-based creative endeavors.
As announced by the studio on January 9th, this team-up will see the Edge of Tomorrow star working with the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group’s Co-Chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy to “jointly develop and produce original and franchise theatrical films starring Cruise in 2024”.
Further, in service of better facilitating their work, this partnership will also net Cruise and his team their own office spaces within Warner Bros. Discovery’s Burbank, CA studio lot.
In a statement provided to the public alongside the announcement, De Luca and Abdy beamed, “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, and, in fact, when we first sat down with David Zaslav to talk about joining the Warner Bros. Discovery team, he said to us, ‘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!’,” they added. “Today, that becomes a reality and we are one step closer to achieving our ambition. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Tom back to Warner Bros. and look forward to bringing more of his genius to life on screen in the years ahead.”
Likewise, albeit much more succinctly, Cruise asserted of the news, “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. I look forward to making great movies together!”
While this partnership news may come as a bit of a surprise to audiences given Cruise’s long-standing relationship with Mission Impossible and Top Gun franchise owners Paramount Pictures, according to a supposed source who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter’s Kim Masters, this relationship has been actively crumbling in recent years.
“Tensions have gotten higher between Tom and Paramount as relates to budget and collaboration,” detailed the source. “He doesn’t send script pages, doesn’t let them see dailies. He used to be very responsible on budgets. That changed on [the latest Mission Impossible outing] Dead Reckoning.”
Further, though both Warner Bros. Discovery and Cruise have yet to provide any details regarding their future project plans at the time of their partnership announcement, Masters was apparently able to glean from her sources that “De Luca and Abdy have also hoped to lure Cruise back for a follow-up to the 2014 film Edge of Tomorrow, which the studio already had in development before they took over.”
But in light of the radio silence regarding the deal’s specifics, whether or not this desired sequel to one of the few good Western live-action adaptations of a Japanese work – in this case Hiroshi Sakurazaka and Yoshitoshi Abe’s light novel All You Need Is Kill – ever comes to fruition ultimately remains to be seen.
