Screenhead

I have a handful of actors whom I know if I go to the movie theaters to see their movies, I will be entertained.  I never feel cheated. Tom Cruise is one of those actors and for good reason. He puts integrity into his work. It shows through the way he promotes his films.  Even in his interviews with talk show hosts he’s there 200%, making sure the interviewer is engaged in the interview just as much as Cruise is. One example is Oprah’s interview at Cruise’s home in Colorado. He was genuine and very honest and open.

It is no wonder that at least five producers are vying to get Cruise to say yes to their projects.

The trades are reporting a strong courtship of Cruise comes at a time when studios are thinking long and hard about which actors deserve to be paid superstar gross deals.  I agree, Cruise deserves it like Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Will Smith and Ben Stiller.

There are those who might say otherwise but producers are enthusiastic for the actor after the success of Valkyrie. The Bryan Singer film did better than expected around the world, and that no major star except Will Smith works to promote a movie as hard as Cruise.

Variety reports the top three candidates for Cruise’s next opportunity:

Matarese, which also has Denzel Washington attached, and will soon get a rewrite by Cronenberg.

The Tourist, the Spyglass remake that would co-star Charlize Theron. A rewrite was turned in this week by Christopher McQuarrie, who co-wrote and produced “Valkyrie” with Cruise, and whose script work was informed by long talks with Cruise as they barnstormed publicity on the UA WWII film.

Motorcade, the Len Wiseman-directed DreamWorks thriller that pits the U.S. president against terrorists who commandeer his motorcade on the streets of Los Angeles. Billy Ray is racing to complete a rewrite of the script, with Cruise’s input.

Personally, I hope it’s with David Cronenberg and Denzel Washington in Matarese. I’d love to see these three work together.