Cry me a river:
Director Steven Spielberg says the media “punished” Tom Cruise for the actor’s televised, soul-baring declaration of love for Katie Holmes.
But in an interview with Newsweek magazine released on Sunday the director downplayed speculation that the giddy public displays of affection by Cruise, 42, could damage Paramount Picture’s publicity for his upcoming summer release “War of the Worlds.”
The $135 million-spectacle, based on the science-fiction novel by H.G. Wells, opens June 29.
“I was a little upset. I was a little upset,” Spielberg told the magazine, referring to the attention generated by Cruise’s recent appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
“Not at Tom, but at the press for making such a big deal out of a kind of small thing. Tom lost his cool because he was deliriously happy, and now he was being punished for his public display of happiness,” Spielberg said.
He isn’t being punished for his behavior. He is being ridiculed.
Kermit
Tom Cruise should resign.
Sammy
Kermit – agreed. Tom Cruise is the most arrogant and mendacious actor I’ve seen in my lifetime, and deserves impeachment. Most disturbing, in my view, is the way that he uses his so called “faith” in Scientology to advance his agenda.
However, it’s a mistake to, as Spielberg does, attribute his behavior to simple exuberence. When his critics label Cruise as merely gregacious, it plays right into of him and his advisors. Spielberg, who is the real evil mastermind here, can use the label to minimize the true nature of his agenda. The lesson is clear: misunderestimating Cruise is definitely engaging in some Risky Business.
ed in texas
Speilberg, true mogol that he is, is concerned about the ONE THING that always goes to the heart of Hollywood. MONEY. Box office is down 9% so far this year, and if Cruise continues to advertise that his boyish good looks (I’m being pragmatic here) are off-market, that could pull things off another percentage point or so. When analysing the entertainment biz, always follow the money. It’s not the big thing, it’s the ONLY thing.
caleb
Tom who?…Didn’t he lose a testicle?
Joel
I suspect Speilberg is a little on edge these days as he hasn’t really had a huge hit film in some time (no complete duds either, but not the blockbusters he’s known for). He’s got a lot riding on this one and I don’t really sense much buzz about the movie. It doesn’t help that it’s yet another remake and the previews make it seem like a slightly modified version of Independance Day.
The Owner's Manual
“The industry scuttlebutt on last Friday’s impromptu engagement is that it was merely Cruise and Holmes’ way of making an excessively sceptical world believe they really, really are in love.”
jcricket
The real question is “Why does Tom Cruise hate America,” er, I mean new mothers?
I think it’s just all that anti-scientology persecution that’s keeping Tom down. That must be it. ;-)
[Tom] is being ridiculed.
And rightly so. This article at Radar is hilarious. Read all the way to the end.
dorkafork
His weirdness is writing checks that his fame can’t cash.
john(lesser)
I am sure that the 100 million $ TNT debacle “Into the West” isn’t helping Mr. Spielberg.
Stormy70
Tom is trying to establish that he’s “Not Gay!” (screamed in a Jerry Mcguire voice). Whatever. Creepiest couple ever, and that’s saying something. Speilberg is being a big baby.
Go Spurs!
M. Scott Eiland
Creepiest couple ever,
In a world where Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley got married? Not even close, and that’s without getting into Liza Minelli’s matrimonial choices. . .
Stormy70
Oooh, I forgot about them. I block the freakiest out I guess. Self-defense mechanism.
Andrew J. Lazarus
As I commented on Tacitus, where is the hero to give Katie Holmes the mind-salvaging antidote when you need him? It’s enough to make one lose faith in the existence of God, if not, even worse, the existence of Batman.
Reid
“It’s enough to make one lose faith in the existence of God, if not, even worse, the existence of Batman.”
Yeah, like you’d think Elvis would have come to rescue his daughter from the clutches of Jacko. One might almost think he’s dead.
Ripley
Cruise is under-medicated. All hail L. Ron Hubbard.
JoshA
He’s got serious issues. My favorite part is how he keeps giving interviews…which get him into worse and worse trouble. A scientology tent on the set of War of the Worlds?
Do I have to have respect for Brooke Shields now?