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Cruise, Wagner to resuscitate United Artists

posted by: Scott Tobias
November 2, 2006 - 1:20pm

In early 1919, four titans of the silent era—Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and D.W. Griffith—formed United Artists, a studio that launched under the idealistic principle that artists would have control over their own work. UA has struggled during virtually every period since its conception, most notoriously with the Heaven's Gate debacle in 1979, but every time it's been left for dead, some intrepid souls have brought it back for another round.

Enter Tom Cruise. After getting the boot from Paramount, Cruise and his producing partner Paula Wagner have decided to revive United Artists once again. In a startling turn of events, Wagner will serve as the company's C.E.O. and Cruise will produce and/or star in its movies, which will be distributed in partnership with MGM. Before cinephiles start freaking at the prospect of this storied studio falling under Scientologist control, it's worth remembering that Cruise has worked with many of the best filmmakers in Hollywood (Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Michael Mann, Steven Spielberg, Cameron Crowe, et al.) and that he and Wagner have some solid production credits, including The Others, Shattered Glass, and the underrated Robert Towne films Without Limits and Ask The Dust. They currently plan on turning out about four films a year under the UA banner, and may well stick it right back in Sumner Redstone's face.

Read more in Variety.

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