The Hollywood Reporter analyzes how the actor continues to score new roles, despite near-death career moves.

Tom Cruise would make a great Survivor contestant. Despite his peculiar public image and less-than-stellar domestic box office in recent years, the 49-year-old has four big studio movies hitting theaters in the next 18 months: Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol in December, the now-filming One Shot for Paramount, June’s Rock of Ages for New Line and the untitled Joseph Kosinski sci-fi epic for Warner Bros. And THR has learned that Warners is again talking to the actor for the lead in its big-budget sci-fi war pic We Mortals Are (aka All You Need Is Kill), being directed by Doug Liman.

“The studios are interested in him again,” says one producer.

What a turnaround. When Mission: Impossible III opened in May 2006, the actor had been under siege for his over-excited Oprah appearance, his public stumping for Scientology and his anti- psychiatry rant on Today. MI-3′s $398 million worldwide gross was nearly 30 percent less than the previous film’s global take.

Paramount soon cut ties with Cruise/Wagner Prods., then Lions for Lambs bombed in 2007 for MGM, where Cruise had taken over as head of its United Artists label, a gig that also led nowhere. Meanwhile, his November 2006 marriage to Katie Holmes seemed only to provoke mass eye-rolling.

An apology-laden PR offensive erased some of the damage to Cruise’s reputation. But while his funny cameo in Tropic Thunder drew praise, Valkyrie and Knight and Day were considered under- performers, at least in the U.S. War of the Worlds was his last unqualified success, with $591 million in worldwide grosses dur- ing summer 2005 — a lifetime ago in Hollywood terms. So what’s behind his sudden resurgence?

One: Need. Movie stars are an increasingly rare breed, and new ones aren’t solidifying. Cruise still delivers internationally, as evidenced by the $186 million foreign gross for Knight and Day, and he has the added benefit of looking (and playing) younger than his years. He’s also hardworking, reliable and invested. “When you have somebody with that good a track record, there’s always the potential for the audience to support that person they’ve had a long relationship with,” says Paramount’s Rob Moore, who sees the new Jack Reacher character in One Shot as another Cruise franchise.

Two: Goodwill. “He’s good at wooing people,” says one studio exec. “He makes it a priority to meet the next generation of execs and is one of the few actors who goes out of his way to shake people’s hands to get back in their good books.” According to insiders, one person Cruise has gotten close to is Skydance Productions president David Ellison, who is co-financing both Protocol and One Shot and shares Cruise’s love of airplanes and flying.

Three: Adaptability. Cruise and his CAA agents have proved to be flexible on dealmaking, meaning he’s working cheaper at times — sources say he’s getting just $5 million for Ages — and structuring deals to lower upfront fees in exchange for backend participation that has greater upside in success.

Four: Commitment. Cruise has always understood what a movie star is and how he’s supposed to behave, and he’s been tireless in playing that role. Excepting the chaotic missteps of 2005-06, he’s always been a smart public figure “willing to do the job of being a movie star,” as one producer puts it. Unlike Russell Crowe or Jim Carrey, who rarely attempt to mend breaks with their fans, Cruise, like friend Will Smith, is a constant, enthusiastic campaigner for his own stardom. That accessibility to the wider world translates to tens of millions in ticket sales.

Cruise is not as big a star as he once was. But his approval ratings among filmgoers seem to have turned a corner, even if he has softer- than-desired traction with the under- 25 demo and some portion of the female audience. “Anecdotally, the polarization you once heard isn’t here anymore,” says a Hollywood marketing consultant. And his overseas prowess remains strong — the rest of the world still loves Maverick.

TOM CRUISE’S UPS AND DOWNS

Oprah’s Couch (May 2005): His public image takes a hit when, professing his love for Katie Holmes, he jumps the couch.

War of the Worlds (June 2005) Rebounds with the help of Steven Spielberg as alien invasion movie grosses $592 million worldwide.

South Park Parody (Nov. 2005): The “Trapped in the Closet” episode mocks him, and Comedy Central cancels a rerun.

Mission: Impossible III (May 2006) His third outing as agent Ethan Hunt disappoints, stalling at $398 worldwide.

Exit Paramount (Aug. 2006): Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone sours on him, ending his 14-year relationship with the studio.

Enter United Artists (Nov. 2006): He and producing partner Paula Wagner find a new mission ressurecting UA.

Knight and Day (2010): American audiences aren’t impressed, but the movie more than doubles its domestic gross of $76 million overseas.

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As part of the Formula 1 return in the United States after a four-year absence, the producer and star of Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Tom Cruise, took a break from post-production work and accepted the invitation to test drive the Red Bull Racing Formula One car in Southern California on the 15th of August.

The former driver of the Red Bull Racing team and 13-time Grand Prix winner, David Coulthard, was Tom Cruise’s personal instructor for the day, along with a 12-person support crew.

During the seven-hour session, the superstar completed 24 laps and managed to improve his initial lap time by almost 11 seconds.

“Tom’s the real deal. I was surprised that he picked it up so quickly and is such an accomplished driver. His recall was incredible considering how complicated driving an F1 car is. He’s a guy who really pushes the envelope in real life. This day was not green screened. He thoroughly impressed me”, said David Coulthard according to redbullusa.com.

The North American Grand Prix will be held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, which is currently under construction, and Formula One will return to the over-seas in 2012.

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One can’t imagine a film ever being made about the life of Louis Theroux. Are his Weird Weekends quite enough for the nation’s television archives? Just in case, Theroux has let it be known that he’d like Tom Cruise to play him. “He’s very intense and I don’t feel I am so I’d like to see him bring his intensity to my lack of intensity. Plus I like it when Americans try to do British accents,” the Daily Express reported. [SOURCE]

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We are well used to a whole host of British Z-listers turning up for a brief camera-shot in the X Factor audience but this year it could turn very A-list.

According to The Sun, Hollywood actor Tom Cruise is keen to get in on the X Factor action and has been asking one Mr Louis Walsh all about the show.

Louis met Tom at a party recently and told The Sun: “He was intense and wanted to know all about how it works and what goes on behind the scenes.”

It seems unlikely fan Tom has been catching up on previous shows via the internet and just can’t wait to hear all those wannabes singing live.

Of course, there could be more to it than that.

Louis claims that Cruise was keen to know if he himself would be part of the upcoming US version of the show and, presumably if Walsh was not going to present, whether he could get tickets for the British series.

Louis said: “I told him that wouldn’t be a problem. We don’t have tickets yet but I can’t imagine it’d be a problem getting Tom Cruise one.” [source]

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Tom Cruise’s rep has rubbished rumours he was injured in a motorcycle accident in LA over the weekend.

The Mission: Impossible star, 47, was reported to have needed medical attention at a hospital following the incident.

But now publicist Amanda Lundberg has set the record straight.

‘Totally false,’ she tells E! Online. ‘Not true at all.’ [SOURCE]

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My apologies for me not updating for a while. I have been looking but I haven’t found anything to update with. All I find are tabloid stories, which I don’t like to post here. Be assured, as soon as I find something, I’ll post it. I hope you’re all having a wonderful new year!!

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Tom Cruise has been sued in a Los Angeles Superior Court.

The lawsuit claims that he hired convicted private investigator Anthony Pellicano to spy on magazine editor Michael David Sapir.

Sapir filed the legal complaint naming as defendants Cruise, his attorney Bert Fields, Matchtinger LLP and Anthony Pellicano.

The lawsuit appears to be part of a legal duel between the parties.

Sapir edits Bold, a periodical that in 2001 published a $500,000 reward for any video evidence that Cruise is gay.

Sapir claims that the magazine received a video and issued a press release to that end.

Cruise has consistently denied being gay. The actor’s attorney, Fields, filed a lawsuit against Sapir’s magazine for defamation, seeking $100 million in damages.

Sapir alleges that during the defamation litigation, Cruise hired Pellicano to wiretap his phone.

The magazine editor is asking for $5 million. [SOURCE]

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With work threatening to take Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes to separate places on the globe this week, the couple made sure to celebrate their third wedding anniversary in advance.

On Saturday night, the pair – who tied the knot in a lavish affair in Italy on Nov. 18, 2006 – celebrated the milestone with a romantic Italian dinner at Boston’s Bricco restaurant. Cruise, 47, surprised Holmes, 30, by renting out the entire second floor of the eatery, where the pair dined on house-made pasta, Chilean sea bass (Holmes’s pick) and Wagyu steak (Cruise’s choice).

With 3-year-old daughter Suri at home, “they held hands the entire night,” Ron Leduc, director of operations for Bricco, tells PEOPLE. “They had a romantic dinner.”

The pair were ready for more romance the next night, when they stopped in Boston’s Abe & Louie’s restaurant, a favorite of the couple during their autumn stay as Cruise shoots the upcoming action-comedy Knight & Day.

Surrounded by their security team, Cruise and Holmes sat at a table in the front of the restaurant and finished their meal with two sweet treats: seven-layer chocolate cake and key-lime pie.

As for their actual anniversary, Cruise was scheduled to fly to Austria to continue shooting Knight & Day with Cameron Diaz. Holmes also has been busy with work: She is shooting the indie film The Romantics on Long Island, N.Y., where she filmed a wedding scene as the best friend of the bride (played by Anna Paquin).

“She really seems to be in great spirits today,” says a set source, noting that Holmes’s parents were with her on location. “She is in a great mood but I think you can tell she misses him.”  [source]

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Tom Cruise pays his wife Katie Holmes a visit on the set of her new movie, The Romantics, in Long Island, New York on Tuesday afternoon (November 10).

The couple took a romantic walk together, strolling hand-in-hand during a film break.

The Romantics is a romantic comedy centering around eight college pals who reunite for the wedding of Anna Paquin’s character. Katie plays the maid of honor who was romantically involved with the groom (Josh Duhamel).

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American actor Tom Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes have helped actor John Travolta come back to public life with a top secret Church of Scientology party in England at the weekend.

Travolta, 55, who had stayed away from the limelight after the death of his son in January this year, was made guest of honour along with his wife Kelly Preston at the 25th anniversary of the International Association of Scientologists bash, reports Contactmusic.

According to UsMagazine.com, Cruise, 47, was among those selected to speak at the event held at Saint Hill Manor in East Grinsted, West Sussex on October 16.

The party was a welcome break for the Travoltas, who have been embroiled in an extortion trial in the Bahamas against a paramedic and a former senator, who allegedly tried to bribe the Hollywood couple over documents the movie star signed immediately following a seizure, which claimed his teenage son’s life.

[source]

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