Tom Cruise is about to open a new movie, called “Digger.”
The movie is an original, not a sequel. It’s a gamble, to be sure. He’s not playing Maverick or Ethan Cane from “Top Gun” and “Mission Impossible.”
“Digger” also seems like it’s social satire, not an action film.
So Tom, smart as a whip, is on a mega publicity tour.
First he gave an information free interview to GQ magazine, which resulted in a 30 minute interview of typical Cruise platitudes. Every Cruise publicity tour is full of speeches about how he grew up on the magic of movies He also appears in photos meant to be a a little “racy,” with his shirt open and pants unbuttoned. .
On Sunday, he turned up in Taylor Swift’s booth at the Kansas City Chiefs game to watch her husband, Travis Kelce. The long lens cameras went crazy documenting their substance-less meeting.
Last night Tom appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight show, for a recap of the Swift adventure. Then he and Fallon played an amusing game of getting hitched up to wires, floating through the air and acting as human claws in an arcade game.
Through it all, not a single personal question is asked. No mention of kids, partner, or Scientology, the religious cult he represents.
Coming back to the popularity of Taylor and Travis, Tom was also on the Kelce brothers podcast, where he continued to say nothing. You can fast forward through it below. Millions of Taylor Swift fans way too young to know who Tom Cruise is, are getting a full dose of his charming smile.
More appearances are coming, no doubt, before the October 2nd premiere. “Digger” remains a mystery, even its trailers aren’t helpful establishing what the movie and why people should see it. Critics get a look at it tomorrow in New York and Los Angeles. With Oscar winner director Alejandro Innaritu in charge, we know it’s going to be of interest.
But keep in mind how Tom conducts this campaign. He has nothing to do with Taylor Swift or Travis Kelce, but suddenly he’s their biggest fan. He wants that magic to wear off on him. It will be instructive to see where he goes with this next week. Usually there’s a New York premiere, with a lot of hoopla, where he goes out and shakes hands and signs a million autographs.
