Fox Is Just As Scared of Tom Cruise As We Are
Summer 2010 has been rough going for pretty much everyone other than alcoholic billionaires and hackneyed ogres. It's only mid-June but the corpses of the fizzled and the failed -- Prince of Persia, Sex and the City 2, Robin Hood, and now Jonah Hex -- line the multiplex like a morgue. And today Fox is worried that their big summer action flick, Knight and Day, might be the next stiff up on the slab.
As Vulture is reporting, executives at Fox are trying to do everything humanly possible to try to save Knight and Day from a fate worse than MacGruber. Despite high scores from test audiences, the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz joint is tracking horribly and seems to be set on the same low-grossing course as the similarly-themed Killers. And even though market research shows that nearly 90% of audiences recognize his name and face, Cruise's favorability rating is only 37%, which has no doubt has Fox soiling their summer seersuckers.
But honestly now, Fox, you can't possibly be surprised, can you? We, as a nation, got together a little while back and decided that Tom Cruise was creepy as hell. It wasn't one thing in particular that pushed him over the edge -- more like it was the unholy brew of his couch jumping, his Scientology flogging, his destruction of Katie Holmes from America's Sweetheart to moon-eyed automaton and the bracing realization that he has an empty, overly toothy rictus of a smile to match his vacant, soulless eyes. You think he's weird, Fox? Welcome to 2008. Nowadays, audiences only like him when he's nigh-unrecognizable under 30 pounds of latex and on-screen for about 15 to 20 minutes.
· Fox Struggles to Overcome the Tom Cruise Problem with 'Knight and Day' [Vulture]
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Comments
We as a nation? Wow, you guys are strict.
Next time he makes a good movie, the box office will do just fine.
I'd add my pithy two cents, but that last paragraph pretty much explains it all.
Tom's like that girl that cheated on you and you try to take her back, but it never works. And part of you knew that from the start, but you still tried just cause you have history.
BTW Tom -- it's not you, it's me.
We've got a sneak preview tonight in Houston. I'm going to avoid ALL the lines next week. Ha. I THINK he can still do action movies, but this probably would have been better with Damon.
Actually, Tom's weirdness came to a head circa 2005, when said couch jumping took place.
Can someone explain "tracking" to me? It sounds more inane than test audience scoring, which almost always indicates absolutely nothing.
Can I just point out what the fatal flaw probably is? I dunno 'bout y'all, but 'Knight and Day' makes me cringe everytime I read it, say it or think about the alternatives. Who in their right mind thought it was a good title?
We as a nation? are you serious? So Tom Cruise is now labeled "weird" cause he jumped on Oprah's couch? Its obvious that the slave Dixon Gaines was ordered to write this way about Tom because he "stepped out of line" and went public against the big drug companies.
Hey Dixon, why dont you post a pic of yourself, show us your K-9's coward.
Oh Tom, don't be so melodramatic!
To DUMPSONDIXON, Wierd old Tom is wierd because of his history.....his continual arrogance and rudeness to other Hollywood professionals, his "superior" and not to mention ignorant attitude of "only we can help", his control freak tendency to sue anyone that criticizes him.....need I go on????? If you knew a non-celebrity that acted this way....you would dump him in 2 seconds.....unless of course YOU're A SCIENTOLOGIST!!!
"But honestly now, Fox, you can’t possibly be surprised, can you? We, as a nation, got together a little while back and decided that Tom Cruise was creepy as hell."
Best quote of the week!
I haven't seen a Tom Cruise film via theater, cable, DVD, VHS, On Demand since 1999 and I don't plan on starting again anytime soon.
I saw "Knight and Day" and I really liked it...so did the majority of the audience I was sitting with (the theater, btw...was packed). I actually like Tom Cruise, I know...how is that possible when the entire nation decided that he was "creepy as hell". I guess I overslept when that vote was taken. Anyhoo, it was a fun movie and Cruise and Diaz looked like they were having a great time.
Same last night in Houston for a Sneak Preview (of course, it was only on one screen...probably folks who couldn't get into Toy Story). These are the Cruise movies I like, though Cameron Diaz was at her ditsy blonde best. Actually, the most fun in the movie was the soundtrack (and I hardly ever think that).
With a name like "DumpsonDixon" guess we should have seen that one coming...
For me, he's like Michael Jackson, I can't look at him.