Post by satchelpaige on Aug 23, 2006 12:10:59 GMT -5
Worse, Cruise's chunk of the profit could leave the studio barely breaking even. After weeks of negotiation to extend a production deal, Redstone said Tuesday that Paramount had given up.
"As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal," Redstone told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the studio's decision on its Web site. "His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount."
One person who had been briefed by Viacom executives said the studio did not want to renew the contract for a production deal that had been reported to cost as much as $10 million a year.
"It was a huge reduction in the size," said the person, who requested anonymity because of the financial issues involved. "The issue was the cost of his overhead and his executives. All the studios are getting out of these kinds of relationships."
But Paula Wagner, Cruise's partner in Cruise-Wagner Productions, said in an interview Tuesday that she and Cruise had, sometime "in the last few days," told their agents at Creative Artists Agency to inform Paramount that they were ending the contract talks.
Wagner said that she and Cruise had already obtained commitments from two hedge funds, one in New York and one in Los Angeles, for $100 million in revolving credit to make movies, and that they had begun looking for a new distribution deal.
"This is something we've dreamt of, to have an independently financed production company, where we can decide the films that we make, from high- concept to more personal pictures," she said. "I think we're in the forefront of a trend."
As for Redstone's allusion to Cruise's conduct, Wagner said, "I have no answer for a stupid statement." She speculated that Redstone was "trying to save face," having learned from Wall Street chatter of Cruise's hunt for alternative financing.
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www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/23/business/studio.phpwww.iht.com/articles/2006/08/23/business/studio.php
Still unclear is how Cruise's agency, Creative Artists, will respond to Paramount's public slap at one of Hollywood's most visible stars. The agency is the most powerful in Hollywood, and a decade ago a studio would have risked war by so publicly denigrating a client like Cruise.
"As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal," Redstone told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the studio's decision on its Web site. "His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount."
One person who had been briefed by Viacom executives said the studio did not want to renew the contract for a production deal that had been reported to cost as much as $10 million a year.
"It was a huge reduction in the size," said the person, who requested anonymity because of the financial issues involved. "The issue was the cost of his overhead and his executives. All the studios are getting out of these kinds of relationships."
But Paula Wagner, Cruise's partner in Cruise-Wagner Productions, said in an interview Tuesday that she and Cruise had, sometime "in the last few days," told their agents at Creative Artists Agency to inform Paramount that they were ending the contract talks.
Wagner said that she and Cruise had already obtained commitments from two hedge funds, one in New York and one in Los Angeles, for $100 million in revolving credit to make movies, and that they had begun looking for a new distribution deal.
"This is something we've dreamt of, to have an independently financed production company, where we can decide the films that we make, from high- concept to more personal pictures," she said. "I think we're in the forefront of a trend."
As for Redstone's allusion to Cruise's conduct, Wagner said, "I have no answer for a stupid statement." She speculated that Redstone was "trying to save face," having learned from Wall Street chatter of Cruise's hunt for alternative financing.
==================
www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/23/business/studio.phpwww.iht.com/articles/2006/08/23/business/studio.php
Still unclear is how Cruise's agency, Creative Artists, will respond to Paramount's public slap at one of Hollywood's most visible stars. The agency is the most powerful in Hollywood, and a decade ago a studio would have risked war by so publicly denigrating a client like Cruise.