Warner Bros Discovery, a major Hollywood studio, has announced that it has signed a deal with Tom Cruise, one of the industry’s most successful actors, to produce and develop new original and franchise films in 2024. The agreement with Cruise is a significant milestone for Warner Bros Motion Picture Group’s co-chairs, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, and fulfills CEO David Zaslav’s longstanding desire to work with top talent in Hollywood.
Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore, has described the deal as a major breakthrough, stating that “Talent attracts talent and every studio touts their formal arrangements with high-profile filmmakers and stars so as to signify to the world their commitment to these highly coveted creatives.”
Cruise, who has starred in numerous critically acclaimed movies, including “Top Gun,” “The Last Samurai,” and the “Mission: Impossible” series, will be based at the Warner Bros Discovery lot in Burbank, sharing space with other Hollywood legends such as Clint Eastwood and Frank Sinatra.
Having earned over $12 billion globally across his five-decade career, Cruise’s latest film, “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” made $568 million in worldwide box office proceeds. He is currently working on the next installment of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise for Paramount Pictures, which is not part of the non-exclusive deal with Warner Bros. The film industry has been grappling with a protracted work stoppage since 2023, when Hollywood writers and actors went on strike demanding higher wages and protection against the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in filmmaking. The strikes caused a significant disruption to film and television production, leading to a delay in Cruise’s next “Mission Impossible” film, which was affected by the work stoppage. However, the industry is working hard to recover from the impact of the strikes, and the new partnership between Warner Bros Discovery and Tom Cruise is a significant step forward in this regard.