MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3 about to be shut down
June 2nd, 2005 by Cinema Eye
The history of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3 has been a very troubled one. It has attracted a slew of interesting directors including David Fincher, Joe Carnahan and J.J. Abrams. Top-notch female talent have signed onto the project only to depart when pre-production continued to drag on. Now, the final nail may have been driven into the coffin of the project. I’m talking about the maniac Tom Cruise.
Unless you’ve been asleep for the last few weeks, you’ll know that Tom Cruise has recently made a series of insane television apperances. He has wrestled Oprah, jumped around like a monkey on crank, laughed uncontrollably, sung the praises of Scientology and made Katie Holmes visibly uncomfortable. Hollywood is so uncomfortable with Cruise’s bizarre behavior that they are even reducing the press junket for WAR OF THE WORLDS.
Now, Sharon Waxman reports that the insanity is about to derail MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3. From a recent article in the NY Times...
An executive for Viacom, Paramount’s parent company, said the studio had not yet decided whether to push ahead with production of “Mission: Impossible III,” one of the company’s most valuable franchises and a project on which tens of millions of dollars has already been spent. Shooting was planned to begin in Italy on July 18 and to continue on location in Europe and elsewhere.
“No definitive decision has been made; it’s a discussion,” said the executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared endangering the studio’s relationship with Mr. Cruise. Other executives involved in the discussion said the production became an issue in recent days as the budget has climbed well over $150 million. A studio spokeswoman, Janet Hill, declined to comment.
This will be interesting to watch. Watching Tom Cruise go off the rails is almost as interesting/awkward as watching an episode of BRITNEY & KEVIN: CHAOTIC. WAR OF THE WORLDS had incredible buzz before Cruise actually started promoting it. Now the movie is linked by association to these crazy television appearances. They have definitely diminished my enthusiasm for the movie. I think the opening numbers fo WOTW will have a big impact on MI3. This movie has been in development for longer than Cinema Eye has been around, so I don’t expect it to die off quite so easily.
Recent News
fuuny cause i just read this. According to Shanghai Youth Daily, Paramount Pictures has already reached a deal with Warner China Film, Warner Bros.’ Chinese branch jointly-owned with the state-run China Film Group and the private-owned Hengdian Group. Warner China Film will co-produce the movie in China to make it qualified as a co-production, which will fast-track the movie’s release in China. Production in China will be done exclusively in Shanghai and nine locations in the old and new districts have been picked. The same report also claimed Michelle Yeoh would play Tom Cruise’ ex-wife but it could not be confirmed.
Interesting. The MISSION IMPOSSIBLE movies do way better overseas anyway so this makes sense. I still think WOTW is going to make big money and MI3 will eventually get made.
It’ll get made. I sure hope it’s better than MI2. I’m one of the few that really liked the first one.
But Cruise? Yes, he is a nutball.
Cruise is my hero. whether it is real or publicity stunt, he is getting Katie Holmes.
Oh, he’s getting Katie Holmes, alright ... to fulfill her end of a written contract!