Sunday
20Jul
Cruise, Smith, and the Saga of 'Salt'
Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 1:02AM 
At this point, I honestly don't know what to think about
Tom Cruise's career. Is it rebounding? Is it
headed into a smoking tail spin? Hard to say. What's easy to say, though, is the
public really turned on the guy, for reasons we all know. Ever since then,
Mission: Impossible 3 didn't do what it was
supposed to (although I personally thought it was the best film in the trilogy),
Lions for Lambs stiffed, and his
Bryan Singer-directed Nazi movie,
Valkyrie, has been beset with one problem after
another.
Now there are conflicting reports about Cruise's future
with another project,
Edwin A. Salt, a thriller to be directed by
Phillip Noyce.
IGN has done a good job collecting the data on
this, and it began with Roger Friedman at
Fox saying Cruise is no longer in the picture,
"and I'm told it's because of money. Apparently, Tom is unaware of the change in
his status in the Hollywood community." A-ha. Well, that'll happen.
But the story had only begun to unfold. Apparently there
was a rumor floating around that
Will Smith would take over the role of a CIA
agent accused of being a Russian spy (similar ground was handled very well in
Breach, by the way. Dig that Chris Cooper performance). Now, if we know one
thing about Will Smith it's that he can't hide being a good guy. And we know
he's close with Cruise. So I seriously doubt he'd take money out of Tom's
wallet. And it's not as if you're not going to pay Will Smith for that role, so
if money's an issue, it would still be an issue if you wanted to hire Big Willie
Style.
But
Moviehole reports that nothing you've seen here
is real. Cruise, according to their digging, is still going ahead with the
project. Which would mean...his career is on an upswing?
See what I mean? You just can't tell with this guy
anymore.
Colin Boyd | Permalink | in Casting Couch, Tom Cruise, Will Smith | Print Article | Email Article | 1 Comment
Reader Comments (1)
I wouldn't even acknowledge anything that sniveling gossip columnist Roger Friedman has to say, particularly about Tom Cruise, who he clearly has a vendetta against, even questioning whether Cruise ever had a "heyday" as a box-office draw (?!?); keep in mind this is someone who thinks Kenny Loggins and Richie Sambora are great singers (again, ?!?)...