Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA) Chairman Sumner Redstone was recently bragging about his company's Paramount film studios to the press like a proud parent. It also underscores why he doesn't need Tom Cruise.
The company's "Dreamgirls" film has snagged eight Academy Awards nominations, "Babel" is nominated for "Best Picture" and "Norbit" now has the top spot at the box office. Plus, the studio has promising features such as "Transformers" and a new Indiana Jones film in the pipeline.
Redstone makes the point to the Hollywood Reporter that Hollywood continues to overpay "the talent." "Because it is not the talent that makes the movie, it is the script," he said. "'The play's the thing,' as someone once said. And if you have a great script, the talent rushes to appear in it and at not too heavy a price."
He's right of course and so was Shakespeare.
High-priced actors will appear in a low-budget film if they like the script. They will also appear in bad, big-budget films for a big pay check. Fans will only put up with their favorite stars appearing in bad movies for so long before that actor's brand is tarnished. That's why Redstone was smart to end Paramount's deal with Cruise.
Paramount's rebound will help Viacom's bottom line, particularly when these movies come out in DVDs.
Since he's interested in good scripts, I wonder if I should mail Redstone my coming-of-age comedy about an aspiring hip-hop star from the mean streets of Scarsdale. Does anybody have his email address?











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-14-2007 @ 11:23AM
techno2000 said...
I have not seen Dreamgirls and will never pay one red cent to see a Paramount movie ever again after what Redstone did to Tom Cruise.
2-14-2007 @ 4:50PM
sanity said...
Cruise is a freak and your an idiot
2-21-2007 @ 4:40PM
mike said...
Way to prove your point, pal. Crusie may be a little confused but he is in movies like MI, Minority Report, and War of the Worlds. Thats more than u can say about urself, pal.
2-14-2007 @ 7:12PM
Claudia said...
Sanity... it's "you're" not your. Learn to spell correctly when trying to cauterize people with your burning tongue.
People make business decisions every day. Some win, some lose. In this case it seems despite who it was that was terminated, it worked. Good for Redstone!
2-14-2007 @ 7:30PM
Suz said...
3 cheers for Redstone!! Cruise is whacko control freak nutjob. Nobody buys his so-called "knowledge..of ANY subject." He never finished high school, now hires Katie and baby to try to convince folks he is not gay. I'd much rather see a nice, intelligent gay man in a movie than that idiot egomaniacal Cruise-CONTROL jerk. He needs to get out the closet, and grow a BRAIN.
2-14-2007 @ 8:39PM
Sonny-Boy said...
I have enjoyed Tom's movies - but if he's on some type of "vitamin" to get all that energy - I think I'd like to know what it's called and where I can buy it. I'm old enough to remember his first marriage and I don't recall this,...uh, behavior or histrionics when he married Mimi or Nicole. Love itself is a wonderful "drug" - but Suri is not his by consumation of marital vows or conjugal effluvium. There are ways nowadays to take sperm from a man's epididymis that are mature enough to penetrate the outer coating of a ova - but why does Katie always look so "beguiled" - unsure and uncertain - as if she's getting paid to "go along". Acting is not her strong suit evidently. I truly don't think he would've married her UNLESS she became impregnated by whatever means. Tom appears to "over-compensate" for her lack of deep affections.
It would pain me to think that if he's in anyway manipulating her ~ in the end, it would be sad. What he meant by telling Nicole, "you know what you did" seems to mean now to be abusive and controlling. If that's what Scientology is about, perhaps a new interpretation is in order. Good luck and best wishes Katie - the cocoon you're enveloped in now is most impenetrable. You'll do what you're told too.
2-14-2007 @ 11:07PM
ken said...
IN THE CONTEXT THAT "your" WAS USED, IT WAS CORRECT.
2-14-2007 @ 9:14PM
KEN said...
THE WAY THAT "YOUR" WAS USED IT WAS GRAMATICALLY CORRECT.
2-14-2007 @ 9:19PM
KEN said...
THE WAY THAT "YOUR" WAS USED IT WAS GRAMATICALLY CORRECT. "YOU'RE" ABBREVS, YOU ARE. "YOUR" IS OWNERSHIP.
2-22-2007 @ 11:51AM
cathi said...
I am glad tom got fired. He is a control freak. I am a christian woman. This socialogy thing is wieird. He has a big mouth. I know someone that use to be friends with him and since he got that religion he has changed. What Katie see's in him is way beyond comprehention.
2-15-2007 @ 12:45AM
jamie said...
in what way was it correct Ken? see excerpts from the dictionary
your
(yr, yôr, yr; yər when unstressed)
adj. The possessive form of you.
1. Used as a modifier before a noun: your boots; your accomplishments.
2. A person's; one's: The light switch is on your right.
3. Informal Used with little or no sense of possession to indicate a type familiar to the listener: your basic three-story frame house.
[Middle English, from Old English ower, genitive of g, ye; see you.]
you're
(yr; yər when unstressed)
Contraction of you are.
2-15-2007 @ 7:15AM
jamie said...
8. THE WAY THAT "YOUR" WAS USED IT WAS GRAMATICALLY CORRECT. "YOU'RE" ABBREVS, YOU ARE. "YOUR" IS OWNERSHIP.
Posted at 9:19PM on Feb 14th 2007 by KEN
there is no owenership of being an idiot you either are ine or you are not. it's an adjective.......
2-15-2007 @ 12:32AM
Jamie said...
there is no owenership of being an idiot you either are ine or you are not. it's an adjective.......
Posted at 12:27AM on Feb 15th 2007 by jamie
I just wish I didn't have to take owenership of my bad typing skills
2-15-2007 @ 12:33AM
Jamie said...
owenership
I just can't get this one correct
2-15-2007 @ 7:24AM
gonnet said...
Look the first comment after M. Redstone: the person does no longer go to Paramount films because M. Redstone has "done something to Tom Cruise"'? Really? That person does not know how much hundreds of millions M. Cruise has gotten from Paramount for films in which he has not been laways, by far, such a great actor.
So, Bravo M. Redstone, stop overpaying any actor, and moreover so when they use your company's time and money to sell a known dangerous cult lies.
2-17-2007 @ 10:21AM
anna said...
sanity, you're an ass.
It's amazing how americans are brainwashed by media and their boss the old fart Redstone.
The one described as "a callous, disgusting prick you don't want to be around, exept his goldigger daught...oops, wife"
As far as I'm aware, they are not 'kids' at Paramount. They SIGNED THE DEAL WITH CRUISE AS BIG PEOPLE.
they should take their responsability.
Redstone, the one, who's also implicated in the Heidi Fleiss scandal, the murder inverstigation, who's sued by his son, some morons here are cheering on him?
you are so ignorant. How stupid you are.
I'm glad I'm European, I am not conditionize by the media, and not a tabloïd junky like you.
So Cruise gave paramount more than 8 billions overall, and that's the way to treat someone?
Badass.
Like Ron Meyer said: "being an asshole never give you results"
Now Cruise is gold, paramount is pissed off he didn't take the 205M$ offer, and run away. Gray look like shit because Redstone did the job instead of him; and Freston is fire by redstone?
Redstone just wanted everyone to know he is alve.
Now, the only way people will remember him (well, at least INTELLIGENT people) is like a old fart dumbass who trashed his golden boy.
FU
Go Tom. And please, stay away from Ben Stiller, his movies sucks!
2-15-2007 @ 5:48PM
Brian said...
Oh lordy. It's "you're", not "your". And it's "grammatically", not "gramatically". And, Ken, your grammar is broken in every sentence you wrote.
Sumner Redstone is doing damage control now that he realizes that not only is Tom Cruise not going anywhere, but that firing him left Cruise in a better position than he had before. Redstone's over-the-top rebuking of Cruise was driven more by personal reasons (according to Redstone, it was his wife that convinced him to criticize Cruise) than by any business decision.
And now Redstone is trying to smooth over the rough edges of his own behavior. His dosage of Xanax was clearly off that day.