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Vengeful Gossip Bashes ‘Tom Cruise’s Nazi Apologia’: An Annotated Guide
6:08AM STV | We knew Fox News gossip and mortal Tom Cruise enemy Roger Friedman was upset last week when MGM denied him an advance look at Valkyrie. Today, he exacted his mouthbreathing, error-packed and all-around vicious revenge. More »
Could New ‘Valkyrie’ Trailer Start Backlash to the Backlash?
3:48AM STV | MGM has released the final trailer for Valkyrie, and really, nothing here indicates why United Artists would have sabotaged this film with one Harveyesque bump after another, all the way off the cliff into the dead zone of February ‘09. (It now opens Dec. 26.) They may not have the viable Oscar contender they wanted, either, but beyond the late, portentous introduction of Tom Cruise’s eye-patched, would-be Hitler killer, this new clip has us marveling at the irony of a feel-bad Nazi drama potentially doubling as the feel-good comeback story of the year. It’s almost enough to make us want to swap the old Superman Returns stand-up at Defamer HQ with the fancy new Valkyrie display occupying MGM’s own lobby. Bryan Singer, you are a continued inspiration to one and all. [MGM] More »
Tacky Lobby Ad Reminds MGM It Still Has To Release ‘Valkyrie’
4:00AM STV | Now we think we know where Tom Cruise was last night while Katie Holmes laboured through her Broadway premiere all alone: Snapshots from a Defamer spy suggest he hit Century City after hours, sneaking the first of Valkyrie’s oversize stand-ups into the lobby at MGM. We have it on good authority from the inside that such direct marketing of an MGM release in the faces of its employees and other building tenants is an unprecedented move for the buttoned-down distributor, but face it: You’d probably do the same thing if you had the chance cut your studio’s holiday decoration budget by 95 percent. [Follow the jump for the enlarged detail.] More »
Into The Diaspora: UA To Wander In Hollywood Desert For Another 40 Years
3:41AM Seth | Yesterday brought the not-entirely-shocking bombshell that Paula Wagner would abandon her vanity-mini-major Eden—not to mention her decade-and-a-half long producing partnership with Tom Cruise—by resigning from her position as CEO of United Artists, reportedly to strike out on her own. This came after a disastrous 21 months on the job that produced a single stinker release, in what, to our knowledge, is the first studio scandal based entirely upon underspending: The reckless frugality! The gluttonous discretion! How dare she not greenlight a $75 million Will Ferrell-as-loutish-badminton-pro comedy in this depressed economic environment?
7:55AM STV | Apocalypse Commences at MGM Tower: A brave reader sends word and photographic evidence of the third — and by far the most real yet — safety crisis to grip the Century City landmark in the last week: Bees! “They have not yet shut down the building, but the front entrance is now closed due to a swarm of bees huddling over and around their queen,” we’re told. We’re not sure if this is at all connected to the Tower’s bomb-y, anthrax-y week of living dangerously, or if perhaps it’s just a late public rally in support of UA’s beleaguered Paula Wagner, but in any event, we once again advise caution to those working at or visiting the site. And, of course, insert your “Finally — buzz at MGM!” joke here. More »
Another Half-Billion Reasons to Worry as UA Loses Another Exec
2:35AM STV | We aren’t sure if Nikki Finke has confused the continuing exec exodus from United Artists with just another routine bomb and/or anthrax threat, but either way, the 11th floor at MGM Tower is clearing out again: Jeff Kleeman is reportedly evacuating his office as Executive Vice President of Production after less than a year on the job at UA. His departure follows marketing boss Dennis Rice’s own flight earlier this summer and an abbreviated period during which Kleeman oversaw the development and/or production of exactly no finished films. Factor in the continuing limbo of Valkyrie, its deep (if closed) pockets and a tense relationship with its partners at MGM, and we can’t help but ask once again: Does Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner or any of the skeleton crew left over there actually have a plan for this studio? More »
