Tom Cruise’s Triumph of the Will
Ben Barna
November 17, 2008
I thought we, as a people, had collectively pushed past this ridiculous notion that Tom Cruise is no longer a bankable movie star. Why not? Because he hopped a couch and made a video? I know Valkyrie's long hard road to a release date had many people wondering if the man whose movies have grossed $6.5 billion worldwide was all of a sudden a kiss of box-office death. Today, the New York Times published a lengthy piece on how the studio is trying to divert attention away from Cruise's starring role, and what Valkyrie's performance means for the future of Cruise's career -- implying that if it doesn't break bank, Tom's career will no longer be in cruise control.
With no more high-profile projects lined up—IMDB has his next as a comedy directed by the guy who did School For Scoundrels—could they be right? Not likely. Valkyrie will do wonders overseas because Cruise Inc. is a global enterprise (again: $6.5 billion). But after the misfire that was Lions for Lambs, he’s suddenly not a sure thing Stateside. But Valkyrie, and therefore Cruise, will triumph. First of all, Valkyrie will be released to a majority of positive reviews, since a Bryan Singer film has never garnered otherwise, let alone one co-starring top-notch thesps like Bill Nighy, Kenneth Brannagh, and Tom Wilkinson. Secondly, the buzz alone surrounding this film, be it good or bad, will stoke the curiosity of everyone who’ll pay to see either the demise or the resurrection of one of our only real movie stars. And thirdly, it’s Tom f*cking Cruise plotting to assassinate Hitler, and there ain’t nothing more American than that.
Comments (11)
Posted by claus on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 04.48 pm
Think the film will be very interesting and probably excellent. Can’t wait to see it!
Posted by Sue C on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 10.36 pm
Check out the Valkyrie news! http://www.tomcruise.com/tom-cruise-news.html
Posted by Steve6f8eh on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 12.25 am
I recently saw Lions for Lambs and it was an excellent film. It was a low budget (sort of) thinking film with a very good message. Perhaps many Americans don’t like having their war mongering leaders action’s put on film, but the message hit the spot.
Valkyrie will do fine, because it will do well in Europe, and because DVD’s will sell eventually.
Posted by love tom cruise foever on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 05.44 am
TOM,ALL YOUR FANS BELIEVE IN YOU!YOU ARE GREAT!
Posted by Joxe Arkaitz on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 08.15 am
I am sure it will be a great movie. The trailer looks terrific!
Posted by Vijay on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 11.09 am
Tom f*cking Cruise plotting to assassinate Hitler, and there ain’t nothing more American than that.
And I will be there..
Posted by Irish on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 11.29 am
Don’t agree. Think that excellent German films in the last number of years - Downfall, The Lives of Others, Goodbye Lenin, Sophie Scholl to name a few - have raised the bar in relation to German war/resistance movies. I think the likelihood of Tom Cruise playing a German historical hero isn’t really likely to grab anyone’s imagination because it simply isn’t believeable. In the current recession climate, people will probably be looking for a more escapist film than this - especially since (unfortunately) the plot which is portrayed was unsuccessful in its attempt to assassinate Hitler.
And I thought Lions for Lambs was a disaster of a film.
Posted by Your World with Cavuto! on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 06.38 pm
Oh fo shiz I will be watching this one. I want to see Hitler… I bet the dude playing him in the movie is gonna get more famous after this movie… people are gonna be yelling out that he’s Hitler. I’m a take my mom to see it, it’ll be my Christmas present to her. If the movie is as suspensful as they say it is, then It’ll win. I mean M:I:3 was tight because it was edge of your seat suspense, so if it is the same, I’d count a 400 million for this one just like with M:I:3.
Posted by Gary on Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 08.07 pm
I agree - I think the movie will do well and I don’t think that Tom Cruise’s career will tank. I think that there is a small group of haters that jump on the internet and talk crap, and I think that the tabloids probably sold alot of papers using people’s fascination with Tom and Katie, but I believe that the number of people who truly dislike Tom Cruise is very very small. He’s a great actor and it doesn’t even make sense that people wouldn’t like him because he jumped on a couch or because of his religion. I’m looking forward to seeing the film
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Posted by Jonathan on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 04.13 pm
You could be right—the bad buzz may actually pay at the box office.
One of my friends says that he wants to be there on opening night because “if this thing goes Heavan’s Gate, I want to be able to say I was there the day Cruise’s career died.” And he’s got a bunch of Tom’s DVD’s.