Tom Cruise, “Top Gun: Maverick” and the Uncomfortable Echo of Hollywood’s Past

youin Weapon: Maverick, which debuts May 27, is 96% heaven on Rotten Tomatoes. After the seemingly never-ending pandemic disaster, it seems the entire audience is hungry for an old-school PG-13 popcorn movie, a return for parents who can enjoy nostalgia while their kids enjoy the action.

But best weapon It also creates some pretty difficult feelings: feelings about politics, the fate of the business and, for me, emotion that has nothing to do with acting on screen. (Truth: I never saw the original movie until I saw it on Netflix the same night I went to the May 4 premiere in San Diego.)

While most critics clearly liked the film, the film’s politics created more of a sense of awkwardness. He wrote that the original had “all the narrative complexity of a music video intersecting with the military recruit link”. the hollywood reporteryea David Rooney He said the embarrassment (despite the film’s multifaceted makeup) only intensified in the post-Trump era, when “patriotism became white supremacy” (he underscored this a week before the last white nationalist terrorist attack in Buffalo). justin chang Georgian Los Angeles Times He agreed that “it’s best not to think too much or seriously about fetishizing the US military.” And he made another key point in the minds of many: “Is this movie one of the last gasps of Hollywood’s dying empire? Or is it the emotionally gripping, visually fascinating and proudly outdated narrative of the ultimate adrenaline rush that the industry desperately needs?

The audience at the premiere I watched seemed ready to give up star power. cruise tonewith whom (with Mission: Impossible 7 Still Unfinished) Enjoy spectacular international voyages including a helicopter landing in San Diego, a royal debut in England, as well as a role in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebration and eight fighter jets in Cannes chasing smoke in red and blue. The colors of the French flag and the “surprise” of the golden branch of the palm of honor.

It’s been a long way to go so far. sky dance David EllisonAs a very young heir to billions, years ago I was looking for a director for the original, Tony ScottAnd he convinced him to consider the idea of ​​repetition. But in 2012, Scott stunned Hollywood by jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro to his death. Cruz had been with him just two days earlier, where he was looking for filming locations. This version of the film was eventually given the green light. Jim Janopoulos Mode, and much about the film’s premiere and dispersed release was already planned two years ago. (As Cruz pointed out, there was no world where Paramount didn’t do a full theatrical release of the film. Because he’s Tom Cruise.)

Now Paramount is ready to cash in on what appears to be a worldwide hit in just a few months. shari red stone Janopoulos’ expulsion was partly because (in his opinion) the theatrical releases were too old. He advocated giving streaming a full boost just before Wall Street’s passion began to cool. Paramount+ builds subscribers, but on the theatrical-cinematographic front, the company eats very well the dishes prepared by the late chef. It’s a cliché in Hollywood that execs started the series after it was released, but Janopoulos’ perspective on it is incredible. even the old fashioned the lost city One Mustache saves $100 million at the box office and that shouldn’t be the case anymore, at least for a comedy movie that’s neither a franchise nor a superhero movie.

At a premiere in San Diego, to which Janopoulos was not invited, someone asked me if I had enjoyed the party. “I feel a little bad for Cinderella,” I replied.

For many, including myself, Cruz itself provokes a strong mixture of feelings. He’s been a movie star for 21 years, he’s still outstanding in a time when many aren’t. His commitment to being a movie star is unparalleled. He took a risk with a variety of material but still released blockbusters a decade later. Still, many people can’t forget – and those who remember the great era of 2005, leaping to the throne and all, Cruz himself clearly recalled – that he too is deeply committed to Scientology. Lawrence Wright, Alex Gibson, Leah Remin And others have talked a lot about organization, and I myself have written many words about Cruise and Scientology.

It’s not about what Cruise personally believes. The group has always seen celebrities as “decorations,” says a veteran Scientology historian and critic. tony ortegaBut Cruz is the church’s biggest celebrity and crown jewel. If Cruz left the group and condemned it, Ortega says: “I doubt Scientology has survived. That’s how important it is.” (There’s no sign he’s considering it.) add best weapon It is “a great incentive for individual Scientologists to see the success best weapon To continue as a justification for Scientology, even if the movie has nothing to do with it.”

At the downtown San Diego premiere on May 4, Cruz took the stage and thanked everyone involved with impeccable courtesy. (He thanked the CEO of Redstone and Paramount Bob Bakish, who was there but saved Ellison from his more generous praise). The audience included rows of naval officers in their white uniforms, and of course Cruise also thanked the navy. I wondered if any of these officers would have thought of Scientology if they were simply amazed, like millions around the world, by that powerful smile and the undoubted magic of movie stars.

“Another wave of emotion washed over me as the light went out and the screen was full.”Mr Simpson s Jerry BruckheimerIn giant letters. Bruckheimer was not required to donate the canvas to Don more than 25 years after his death, but he did.

I wasn’t in Hollywood for the original best weaponBut I was there later, when Simpson and Bruckheimer were in testosterone glory, having big deals with Paramount and then Disney. At Paramount, they both sat at a long communal table. Don was brilliant, funny, and deeply self-destructive. He was also one of my most important early sources on this subject, a true Hollywood science teacher. He was absolutely glorious in the bustling city and social comedy. I knew about crazy things, jokes and blows, he even knew that I knew and had a vague vision. That was understandable, but following him or scolding him wasn’t my thing. My job was to study and report.

At any time nancy faucet and i was working click and runabout our book João Pedro s Peter GuberAt one point, we were invited to Johnny’s house. Don called me before and after, insisting on knowing and explaining who was sitting where and what, if anything, he was offering to eat or drink. He destroyed the entire meeting. As a regular user, you hosted a presentation like a troll. lady alexPredecessor heidi fliesAnd I had tea at his house, who was one of his “creatures”, as he called them. Alex, already at war with Fly, lay in his bed and got involved in the Hollywood sex trade, specifically which is about the characters in our book and then some of them. It was priceless.

When the president of Disney Michael Eisner The studio head was fired. Jeffrey Katzenberg In 1994, Don processed the phones and recorded what they were and what they said to each other. I didn’t believe it, but they didn’t seem to suspect that I was reporting the report. I still remember his enthusiasm, his admiration, his apparent joy when the story came out. vanity fair.

On the night of January 1, 1996, we talked at length about his first interview in anticipation of his recent and painful breakup with Bruckheimer, who, understandably, could no longer handle the madness. I told him that he had to discuss the matter with a doctor who had been found dead in his pool from drugs the previous August. “What am I saying?” I ask. I told him I couldn’t take his advice, but I offered to let him go completely; I didn’t want to put more stress on a person whose health has been bothering me for a long time. But Don said he’d get an interview and we met. Just a few hours after we hung up, someone called me and said that Don was dead. “No, it’s not,” I told him. “I was talking to him.”

That was over 26 years ago. He was just 52 years old. But Don and Jerry were still together, on screen best weapon Premiere. And despite the policy, L. Ron Hubbard From all this, from the uncertainty before the world, he felt, at least for a second, that everything was as it should have been.

The story first appeared in the May 25 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.