Showbiz411

This is a shock: boxofficemojo.com is reporting that Tom Cruise’s “Rock of Ages” took in much less than thought. The original number was set at $15,060,000. But the real number is $14,437,269 million, considerably less than the already embarrassing total. On the contrary, Adam Sandler’s awful “That’s My Boy” did slightly better than thought. Instead of $13 million, Sandler came in at $13.5 million–a little better at least. Both of these movies are flops, however. But just the idea that Cruise couldn’t cross that $15 million line is a little frightening. It means audiences really rejected the whole idea of him prancing around like Axl Rose or Brett Michaels. Cruise spends $14 million like it was pocket change. “Rock of Ages” certainly cost $100 million all-in. Warner Bros. is going to have put this some accounting ledger where no one notices what happened.

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.