An Aug. 29 Business article incorrectly referred to Stephen Glass, subject of the movie "Shattered Glass," as a plagiarist. Glass did not steal material; he fabricated it.
| Page 2 of 2 < |
Snyder Adds New Star to His Lineup: Cruise
Tom Cruise starred in "Mission: Impossible III," which took in about $390 million.
(By Stephen Vaughan -- Associated Press)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
In addition, Redstone thought that Cruise's off-screen behavior -- jumping on Oprah Winfrey's couch and bad-mouthing antidepressants during a film publicity tour -- was costing the studio money, perhaps as much as $100 million to $150 million in ticket sales for this summer's "Mission: Impossible III." The movie took in about $390 million worldwide.
An alliance with a big-name movie star is no guarantee of success for Snyder and his partners. The group will still have to negotiate the amount and the terms of its investment in any films Cruise and Wagner propose.
"How good or bad the decision is depends on how much say they have in how the money is going to be used by the producer," said Jehoshua Eliashberg, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
Arthur S. De Vany, professor emeritus of economics at the University of California at Irvine and an expert in film finance, said Snyder and his partners will likely discover that movies are a risky business.
"If they had a high rate of return, they wouldn't need outside money," De Vany said.
Several film finance experts said Snyder would be better off financing a range of projects, especially family films, and not just star vehicles for Cruise.
Many Cruise/Wagner Productions films have starred Cruise. But the company has also produced films without him, such as "Shattered Glass," about New Republic plagiarist Stephen Glass.
The company describes its films as "ranging from high concept to more personal, character-driven movies."
De Vany said Snyder should also avoid the urge to tie-in his other media properties with any future Hollywood blockbusters.
"I hope we don't see Six Flags in the next scene in 'Mission Impossible,' " he said. "The surest way of ruining a movie is start thinking how to commercialize it."
Staff writer Paul Farhi contributed to this report.
