The ongoing awards circuit treats us to ‘a moment’ between two former collaborators and industry titans, as Steven Spielberg praises Tom Cruise.
Tom Cruise’s first appearance of awards season caused quite the stir this week when he attended the Oscars nominees luncheon. Lots of Hollywood royalty were on hand to give cruise his due, with the success of Top Gun: Maverick playing a large part in getting audiences back into cinemas following the global pandemic.
Cruise fought hard to keep the theatrical experience alive, from the leaked outbursts on the set of Mission: Impossible to his promo video showing him going back to a cinema to watch Tenet. Sure, a cynic might argue that Cruise himself had something to gain by becoming in some eyes ‘the saviour of cinema’ but when push came to shove, Cruise demonstrated his commitment to the theatrical experience. He fought hard to keep Top Gun: Maverick as a theatrical release and even reportedly lawyered up to take on Paramount over the exclusivity window for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part I.
If nothing else, his peers certainly seem to be grateful for his efforts and seemed happy to tell him so.
One video has gone viral featuring Steven Spielberg, a former collaborator telling Cruise he “saved Hollywood’s ass”. Although the audio in the video isn’t great, the legendary filmmaker seemingly goes on to say: “And, you might have saved theatrical distribution. Seriously. Maverick might have saved the entire theatrical industry.”
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It’s a nice moment between two industry legends who for whatever reason, stopped working together after making two corking films (in the form of Minority Report and War Of The Worlds). Still, it’s good to know that Cruise’s commitment to the theatrical cause is appreciated by his peers. Likewise, that’s a cause that we can all get behind.
Whilst it’s unlikely that industry sentiment will translate into enough votes to win Top Gun: Maverick the Best Picture gong, who knows? It’s moments like this that can sway voters before the polls close in March but that’s not really the point here. What’s important is that after shouting loudly and repeatedly about the importance of the theatrical experience for so long, Cruise is being given his due.
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