After all was said and done, Tom Cruise‘s big mouth didn’t hurt War of the Worlds.
Since April, we’ve endured Cruise‘s insistence his love for fiancée Katie Holmes isn’t a publicity stunt, his war of words with Endless Love costar Brooke Shields over her use of antidepressants, his condemnation of psychiatry as “a pseudoscience,” and his aggressive promotion of his controversial chosen religion, Scientology.
But as expected, Steven Spielberg‘s retelling of the H.G. Wells sci-fi literary classic practically earned a dollar for each time Cruise firmly lodged his foot in his mouth this year. War of the Worlds launched its bid for box office domination by scoring the second-biggest opening of the year, behind Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith‘s $108.4 million.
Cruise even celebrated his birthday on July 3–yes, ladies, he’s 43 and still Top Gun boyish–by enjoying the best three-day ($64.8 million) and four-day weekend openings ($77 million) of his two-decade career.
Also, War of the Worlds‘ six-day haul of $112.7 million surpasses the totals for Cruise‘s past two hits, The Last Samurai ($111.1 million) and Collateral ($101 million).
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Cruise’s Top 5 Openers* | |
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Factor in the $102.5 million from overseas and War of the Worlds is proving to be an expensive risk that will likely pay huge dividends for Cruise and Spielberg.
OK, so Cruise‘s constant yapping didn’t keep a fed-up public away from War of the Worlds, but don’t think for a moment it helped. Everything he’s gone on about in recent months has been personal in nature, and War of the Worlds seemed incidental in all conversations with Cruise.
But War of the Worlds was manufactured to overcome such distractions. This is the most famous tale of Earth’s near-annihilation at the hands of alien forces. Just add Steven Spielberg–who’s already given us Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.–and Hollywood’s biggest superstar, and presto, instant blockbuster. And, despite an anticlimactic ending that owes more to Spielberg‘s faithfulness to Wells’ story than a lack of imagination, War of the Worlds received the kind of terrific reviews that are usually reserved for such nobler efforts as Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan.
Oh, and rumors of Cruise‘s demise at the box office are greatly exaggerated. There was speculation Paramount was nervous about pumping $150 million into Mission: Impossible 3, fearing Cruise had reached his peak in popularity. That, combined with Cruise‘s oddball behavior, reportedly had Paramount executives considering putting the brakes on the oft-delayed third Ethan Hunt adventure.
But War of the Worlds marks Cruise‘s sixth consecutive $100 million hit, something Jim Carrey, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, and Adam Sandler can’t claim. Also, let’s take into consideration that three of those six films–Collateral, The Last Samurai and Vanilla Sky–earned R ratings for their graphic violence or sexual escapades. Even with many of his younger fans shut out, Cruise lured enough people to make these three films worth his time and energy. While viewed as a domestic underachiever, The Last Samurai earned $345.6 million overseas for a $456.7 million total. That’s a disappointment Harrison Ford would die to have these days.
And if War of the Worlds plays strongly into July, it could topple Mission: Impossible 2 ($215.4 million) as Cruise‘s highest-grossing hit.
Cruise still shouldn’t walk away from War of the Worlds thinking he’s invincible. Sure, War of the Worlds was built to withstand his public ranting and sofa-jumping antics of late, but he’s said what he had to say about what he believes in, and he should now just shut up. He especially needs to stay on message next summer when he stumps for Mission: Impossible III. This is a troubled sequel that’s already lost two directors in Seven‘s David Fincher and Narc‘s Joe Carnahan and been repeatedly delayed, resulting in the departures of Kenneth Branagh, Carrie-Anne Moss and Scarlett Johansson (though Radarmagazine.Com reported Johansson left after Cruise tried to convert her to Scientology).
Yes, M:I 3 could survive if Tom continues to let his mouth run on cruise control. But if the actor finally drives people too crazy with talk about what’s near and dear to his heart, they could be less inclined to see him in the next risky R-rated film he makes. He needs to learn his lesson from these past few months and realize people want to see him save the world, not talk their ears off.
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OK, Tom, you’re in love and you have a smash hit in War of the Worlds. What more do you need? Now it’s time to go away and enjoy your good fortune. The next words we want to hear from you–if we must hear them–are “I do.” | |
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