Sunday, October 13, 2024

Tom Cruise in Pittsburgh Tomorrow But Won’t Do New York Publicity Junket for “Reacher”

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The hunt for Tom Cruise continues: the man so many consider “the biggest star in Hollywood” is remaining off limits to press for his latest film, “Jack Reacher.” Even though “Reacher” has pretty good reviews, and should be a Christmas hit for Paramount Pictures, Cruise is keeping it low key. He’s skipping the entire press junket for “Reacher” this weekend in New York.

A call sheet went out to press today and the “available” talent will be Rosamund Pike, David Oyelowo (who told me recently how much he loved working with Cruise on the movie), plus author of the “Reacher” books Lee Child, and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie.

But no Cruise. Tom is making an appearance in Pittsburgh tomorrow afternoon at a “premiere” for “Reacher”–he’ll likely sign autographs and wave and smile, sort of like the politician in Robert Altman’s classic film “Nashville.” Next week he appears on both David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon, which are usually live shows and not taped in advance. But Cruise will otherwise not be available for interviews on “Reacher.”

So far “Reacher” has six positive reviews and one extremely negative one on rottentomatoes.com. It has good buzz. But the real reviews from all the junketeers won’t come until after they’ve seen the movie this weekend and registered their reactions–which may not be until right before the movie opens next Friday, December 21–the same day the world is supposed to end.

Meantime Paramount is riding high with “Flight”– which should be nominated for Best Picture, it’s excellent–and David Chase’s rocking musical  “Not Fade Away” which premieres Tuesday and will be a welcome addition to the Christmas releases.

PS I’ve never read these “Reacher” books, where the main character is supposed to be six foot five. If Cruise is good in the role it won’t matter. Jack Reacher is a fictitious character. It’s a non issue. If Reacher were a basketball player it might be a different story. But he’s not.

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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