With multi-million
dollars backing his starry ideals, Tom Cruise has
taken Hollywood marketing management to another
level. Striking a deal with intention to restore
United Artist's studio, Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner
(production partner) made an announcement to the
effect, a week ago.
While the buzz is that UA is not the sole agency to
gain and its parent company, MGM, also gets to share
the glory of the revival, what interests the film
fraternity most is the possible effect of this deal.
Tongues are already wagging on the probable effects
of the studio on the flagging star-status of Tom
Cruise, the rise in power for Paula from executive
level and the combination of the power-packed punch
the two representatives of Creative Artists Agency
may be doling out.
Speaking on future ambitions, Paula reveals that the
revival of UA studios is planned along side
producing budget-conscious, mainstream cinema that
is not limited to any particular genre and that they
are open to investment inputs from MGM and outside
backers as well.
While some staff has been retained, the
Cruise-Wagner duo are keen to explore opportunities
that have so far not been exploited to their full
potential by earlier studio heads and are thus
focusing on a new breed of directors-John Woo, JJ
Abrams and Cameron Crowe, to name a few - to take
risks while balancing marketable instincts with
artists that can help re-establish UA's former
glory. |
