Paramount Dumps Tom Cruise...

If there's suddenly a litmus test for insanity administered by the owners of Hollywood movie studios, then start with the executive suites. That's my reaction to the are-you-shitting-me pronouncement by Viacom Inc. chairman Sumner Redstone today that his Paramount Pictures is terminating its 14-year relationship with Tom "Crazy" Cruise's production company because the actor's controversial and erratic offscreen behavior hurt the theatrical grosses of "Mission Impossible 3. Of course, the studio publicity department worked overtime all summer to dispel just that notion whenever it was even mentioned by entertainment business reporters. "As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal," Mr. Redstone said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. "His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount."Granted Redstone was on a Rocky Mountain high, making his remarks in the thin air of Aspen Summit 2006 where his company was presenting before the digital world. And, granted, the octogenarian was seen wandering dazed and confused into the kitchen of The Grill in Beverly Hills not long ago. But, for the moment, I'll assume he had all his mental faculties intact when he made his statement to the business paper. So, if I were a Viacom shareholder, I'd be asking Ol' Sumner right now: Are you nuts? Fine, don't do business anymore with the freakish dwarf who'll never win an Oscar unless he buys one at auction. But why the fuck are you setting up his legal piranha (Bert Fields, who's never lost a case) for what could well be the biggest lawsuit ever to hit Hollywood? Already Cruise's producing partner Paula Wagner called Redstone's remarks "outrageous and disrespectful" and disputed his account of what happened during the negiotiatiosn to renew their studio pact. Not only did she claim Cruise/Wagner Productions terminated their talks with Paramount earlier in the week, but she claimed the time had come for Cruise and her to strike out on their own with an independent production deal financed to the tune of $100 million by two hedge funds. This might even be true.

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