It would appear that the feud between actor Tom Cruise and financial/entertainment mogul Sumner Redstone, now 84, may be drawing to an end after nearly two years of back and forth battling of one another.
Restone announced this morning that he has no problem with Cruise headlining the next chapter in the “Mission Impossible” saga. Redstone’s company, Viacom, owns Paramount Pictures, the studio that runs the “Mission Impossible” franchise.
In 2006 Redstone became at odds with Cruise over the actor’s public behavior (most notably his couch-jumping spectacle on Oprah Winfrey in 2006 and the actor’s on-air scientology verbal tussle with Matt Lauer on the NBC Today Show), with Redstone virtually banning Cruise from participation in films shot on any Paramount lot or location. That lot ban was lifted however, because Cruise has been spotted on several occasions since October 2007 visiting his good friend J.J. Abrams on the set of the next “Star Trek” feature film, which is a Paramount project.
With fence-mending currently in progress, Cruise is said to be in talks to star in the fourth “Impossible” movie.
“I consider Tom Cruise a great actor and a good friend,” Redstone said. “And if Paramount decides — and they will make the decision — to move ahead with him, I will not object.” He did indicate that the movie’s director, Brad Gray, would have the final decision on who would and would not star.
There has been no official comment from Cruise on Redstone’s conciliatory statement, but, according to a report in Variety, the trade paper says the two have been seen dining together as early as March of this year so it is very likely that whatever behavior Cruise did that drove them apart has been repaired and forgiven by the senior leader of Viacom.
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