Tom Cruise Was All Set To Start A ‘Dark Monstrous Universe’ Just Like Marvel Started A Franchise With Avengers, But His ‘Lack Of Creative Control’ Ended It?
As per reports, Tom Cruise’s control – or the lack of it, was the reason behind Universal’s ‘Dark Monstrous Universe’ failing. Read on.
Was Tom Cruise’s Creative Control – Or Lack Of, The Reason For The Mummy & Universal’s Ambitious Monster Universe Failing? Director Speaks Up(Photo Credit –Facebook/Poster From Movie)
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The 2017 film, made on a budget of around $125–195 million, earned approximately $410 million at the box office. However, it failed to impress the audiences and critics and is considered by director Alex Kurtzman “probably the biggest failure of [his] life” In fact, it was even nominated for worst picture, worst director, worst actor, worst supporting actor, worst supporting actress, worst screenplay and lot more at the 2018 Golden Raspberry Awards – it won for worst actor.
Tom Cruise is a name known all across the globe thanks to his action-packed films like the Mission: Impossible and Top Gun film franchises, as well as his love life. Having been in the filmmaking industry for over four decades (his first film, Endless Love, was released in 1981), the actor now has a say in how a film will look at its release.
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Over the years, Cruise has been part of several big-budget films and has essayed characters across various genres. In fact, he even forayed into the Dark Universe – Universal’s attempt to create a cinematic universe of interconnected monster movies with the 2017 film, The Mummy – but it turned out to be a costly failure. This universe – the studio’s plans on having something similar to Marvel’s Avengers, was set to make films on other fictional characters like Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf Man, but nothing came to light.
Coming back to Tom Cruise’s The Mummy, the 2017 film was made on a budget of around $125–195 million and earned approximately $410 million at the box office. However, it failed to impress the audiences and critics and is considered by director Alex Kurtzman “probably the biggest failure of [his] life” In fact, it was even nominated for worst picture, worst director, worst actor, worst supporting actor, worst supporting actress, worst screenplay and lot more at the 2018 Golden Raspberry Awards – it won for worst actor.
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As reported by fandomwire, several media reports claimed that Tom Cruise was heavily involved in developing The Mummy and had significant creative control over the final product. However, not everyone – including director Alex Kurtzman, agrees that Cruise’s involvement was a problem. In an interview with The Playlist’s Bingeworthy podcast, the director praised Cruise.
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Talking about Cruise and his involvement in the making of The Mummy, director Alex Kurtzman said, “This is very much a film of two halves: before Tom and after Tom. I have heard the stories about how he drives everything and pushes and pushes, but it was amazing to work with him. The guy is a great filmmaker and knows his craft. He will walk onto a set and tell the director what to do, say ‘that’s not the right lens,’ ask about the sets, and as long as you don’t fluff what you’re saying to him … he’s easy to work for.”
Released in 2017, The Mummy was directed by Alex Kurtzman and written by Jon Spaihts and Christopher McQuarrie. It starred Tom Cruise as Nick Morton, a soldier who accidentally unearths the tomb of an ancient Egyptian princess, played by Sofia Boutella. The film was supposed to set up the Dark Universe and establish a tone and style that future Universal films would build upon. But instead, it was criticized for being a bland and generic action movie that failed to deliver on the promise of being a horror-themed monster flick.
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Do you think if Tom Cruise had more control over the final product of The Mummy, the outcome would have been different? Let us know in the comments below.
