Sweet Jane 61 Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Brad Pitt has been lined up to replace Tom Cruise in the next Mission Impossible film. It is a move that will make Pitt the highest-paid actor in Hollywood history. Paramount Pictures, the company behind the franchise, ended their long-running partnership with Cruise and is planning to install Pitt in the lead role. The firm is determined to keep the lucrative series alive after Mission Impossible:III took 212million at the box office, with the previous episode taking 290 million. An insider told London Lite: "MI:IV will not include Cruise's character, agent Ethan Hunt. They're considering a brief mention, saying Hunt retired to live a safe life with his new wife. "They're set on Brad taking over as a gutsy new head operative who puts together his own unique team of specialists." Sources say Paramount is prepared to do whatever it takes to get Pitt on board, and is even willing to make him the highest-paid movie star in history, with a salary topping £21 million. Cruise and Paramount ended their 14-year relationship last month, with chairman Sumner Redstone blaming Cruise's controversial behaviour for the split. "It's nothing to do with his acting ability, he's a terrific actor," Redstone told the Wall Street Journal. "But we don't think that someone who commits creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot. As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal. His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount." Sources cite Cruise's bizarre antics - such as the infamous "sofa dance" on the Oprah Winfrey chat show - and his links to the Church Of Scientology as factors in why he and the studio parted company. They say that with Cruise now off the lot, Pitt - whose production company Plan B is based at Paramount - is clearly the biggest star with a deal at the studio. Plan B recently won a heated bidding war against Leonardo DiCaprio's production company for Max Brooks' upcoming horror novel, World War Z. "Brad is showing the studio what he's made of," added the source. "Everyone is very impressed. "Everything's being kept top secret, but they're offering Brad a deal no one could possibly refuse. There's no doubt, this would make Brad Pitt the biggest and highest paid star in the world." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Seeker Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Brad Pitt in Mission Impossible?? I already know I won't watch that film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Mission Impossible:III took 212million at the box office, with the previous episode taking 290 million. "But we don't think that someone who ... costs the company revenue" Believe me, I'm not a fan of either Cruise's, Pitt's, or Mission Impossible. But in the same article citing a haul of $212 MILLION, they're saying Cruise COST THEM revenue? Seems to me that's a bit of a stretch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Very true , Shawna - there is more to this than meets the eye , surely . This news is neither here nor there , for me , as I think the entire " Mission Impossible " movie franchise is a vulgar and shameless useage of the TV series' name only , and bears no similarities to what made that show cool or popular to start with . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 I think the entire " Mission Impossible " movie franchise is a vulgar and shameless useage of the TV series' name only , and bears no similarities to what made that show cool or popular to start with . MI was an amazing TV show... I didn´t miss an episode in the late sixties... I remember there were parties at home on Fridays and Saturday nights when we were kids, there was some cool friends of my parents, actors and "beautiful people" and we the kids were allowed to be there when they all watched MI... so seeing Tom Cruise as some sort of human Terminator isn´t exciting at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Well put , edna ! Come up with your own name or be faithful to the original that you present yourselves as being , you name stealing , spy action-wannabees ! I need a good pirate curse here ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dappled Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 MI was an amazing TV show... I didn´t miss an episode in the late sixties... Edna, do you recall Danger Man? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 No, I think they didn´t show it in South America... or maybe they did but then very late at night... but it sure looks great... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daslied Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Believe me, I'm not a fan of either Cruise's, Pitt's, or Mission Impossible. But in the same article citing a haul of $212 MILLION, they're saying Cruise COST THEM revenue? Seems to me that's a bit of a stretch. I think that he has some sort of backloaded deal where he gets an enormous share of the profits. For the second "Mission Impossible", he earned $75 million. The budget was $125 million and the gross was $215 million, so that leaves $15 million in profit. Which is great, but say Brad Pitt just gets $20 million for his role - they've just made a lot more money. Here's some more things I find interesting: "Vanilla Sky" budget - $68 million gross - $100 million Tom's take - $20 million + % of gross "The Last Samurai" budget - $140 million gross - $111 million Tom - $25 million + percentage "War Of The Worlds" budget - $132 million gross - $234 million Tom - 20% of gross - $47 million --- "Blair Witch Project" budget - $35 THOUSAND gross - $140 MILLION That's insane. I think these people are just tired of spending hundreds of millions to make a few million back, when it's possible to make back what you spend 1000 times over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Obviously , Das , the math majors aren't in Hollywood running studios - they're all agents . "Dad when I grow up , I wanna be President of the United States ! " *Slap !* " No son of mine is gonna strive for less than being an agent ! " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 For the second "Mission Impossible", he earned $75 million. The budget was $125 million and the gross was $215 million, so that leaves $15 million in profit. Wouldn't Tom's actor's salary have been included in the budget? If so, even taking out any back-end deal percentage profit for him, the haul for the company would have been more than $15 million. I think these guys are all a buncha whiners. "Cost the company revenue." Get a grip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daslied Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 I think normally a salary is included, but for "MI2" he only took a percentage of the gross. That's where the $75 million came from - 35% percent of the gross, 83% of the profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet Jane 61 Posted September 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 What makes me laugh about all this, is the fact that Paramount is saying Tom's behavior is something they don't approve of. Now, I don't like Tom, but come one, what actor/actress doesn't do something that is a little wacky or even illegal?? If every actor was let go from a contract with a movie company that did something "they did approve of", not many movies would get made! It's Hollywood, the land of fame, fortune, and wackiness! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny Posted September 26, 2006 Report Share Posted September 26, 2006 I agree with Jane....he's a wacko, but he hasn't really hurt anybody, has he? No murder, wife beating, stealing or anything to the like.... Mel Gibson got caught driving drunk and slinging anti-semitic slurs....when is he going to get dropped by his studio? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now