Steven Spielberg says Tom Cruise “saved theatrical distribution”
At the Academy Awards Luncheon, Steven Spielberg opined that Tom Cruise "saved Hollywood's ass"
Aux News Steven Spielberg
Sure, back in the summer of 2020, Tom Cruise proclaimed that big screens were back with the release of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, despite the fact that plenty of theaters around the world were still closed under lockdown. Now, Steven Spielberg is crediting Cruise himself with reviving cinema.
“You saved Hollywood’s ass and you might have saved theatrical distribution,” the Jurassic Park director says in a video shared by documentary filmmaker Kartiki Gonsalves. “Seriously, Top Gun: Maverick might have saved the entire theatrical industry.”
Spielberg previously directed Cruise in 2002's Minority Report and 2005's War Of The Worlds. The duo was reunited at the recent Oscar nominees luncheon; Top Gun: Maverick will be facing off against The Fabelmans for best picture.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the sequel to the 1986 classic Top Gun raked in $1.48 billion worldwide at the box office last year and didn’t arrive on streaming until seven months after its May 2022 release. However, it wasn’t the first flick to hit the ten-figure milestone in the pandemic era. Released in December 2021, Spider-Man: No Way Home had a haul of $1.92 billion. Avatar: The Way Of Water has since surpassed both movies, taking in $2.2 billion so far.
Per Variety, Paramount credits fans returning for repeat viewings for Top Gun: Maverick’s long legs, writing, “By its fourth weekend in North American movie theaters, 16% of the audience had returned more than once and 4% had returned three times or more.” In the Los Angeles Times’ anonymous survey of Oscar voters, one producer shared that he had watched the film a total of 13 times, at the expense of checking out other options from the Academy’s longlist.
Given that whole “father of the modern blockbuster” thing, it doesn’t seem like Spielberg had too much to be worried about in the first place. But hey, Cruise did write the most memorable six-word story since Ernest Hemingway: “Big Movie. Big Screen. Loved it.”
24 Comments
Did Tom Cruise have a gun to his head?
Scientologists had kidnapped his family
For him?
Tom Cruise deposits the souls of his enemies into volcanoes.
Tom Cruise is starting to look like a guy who has a side hustle as a Tom Cruise impersonator.
Yeah, I’ve never seen his face look…quite like that, before.
That’s nothing compared to Ryan Gosling.
from what? A well-deserved extinction?
NOBODY PLAYS JAZZ AT THE PITSTOP!
From shitfucks who ignore that it’s a joke so that they can add sub-AVClub-level snark?
With your generous $10 donation to the Hollywood Foundation, you can help ensure that at least 3 Tom Cruises have enough to eat tonight. No Tom Cruise should go hungry. (‘In the Arms of an Angel’ plays in the background).
The Charlie Cale response to Spielberg’s statement: Bullshit.
Yeah..okay
People keep saying that, but Spider-Man No Way Home is the movie that did all that. It ran so Top Gun could fly.
Really, it flew so Top Gun could walk. NWH hauled in a bigger gross.I’d day Gen X film reviewers awash with nostalgia are the reason for Maverick’s hype, but honestly, we’re not a big enough generation to dominate any industry, so that can’t be the explanation.
He could be right, but Cruise’s ego is already huge I don’t think he needed the boost.
lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololol
He is right there for once.
We the audience are just specks of grain in Almighty Xenu’s tentacled fingers.
Ok, then save the Arclight, you cowards.
So Tom Cruised saved movie theatres by starring in a movie. He didn’t produce, write, direct or anything but act and he’s the one who saved the industry?
White man 1: “Good job, white man.”White man 2: “Thanks, white man.”
I don’t think Top Gun Maverick gets better with repeat viewings, but okay sure. I did watch it in the cinemas, and enjoyed it for what it was.