Tom Cruise splits from Paramount

Cruise/Wagner Productions have controversially left the studio.

Aug 23 2006

Tom Cruise has sensationally split from Viacom's Paramount Pictures after 13 years at the studio.

Cruise and Paula Wagner's Cruise/Wagner Productions have instead raised $100 million from two hedge funds and are currently setting up their project at another studio.

The seperation has been far from amicable however, with both parties firing parting shots at each other.

No doubt referring to the tabloid frenzy surronding Cruise's recent marriage to Katie Holmes and his views on psychiatry, medication and the Church of Scientology, Viacom chairman Summer Redstone told the Wall Street Journal 'As much as we like [Cruise] personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal. His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount.'

In response, Wagner called Redstone's comments 'outrageous and disrespectful' and issued a statement saying that C/W had had virtually no dealings with the chairman and had stopped negotiating with Paramount last week.

In their time at Paramount, Cruise and Wagner produced the blockbusters 'War of the Worlds', 'Vanilla Sky' and the 'Mission: Impossible' series, although there's no word yet as to what their next project will be or at which studio it will shoot.

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