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United Artists Being Revived by Tom Cruise

UA revived by Cruise/Wagner

MGM unit will produce four pics a year

Nearly a century after United Artists was founded as a studio run by
artists, it’s being reborn under the same auspices.
U.A. is being revived and will be run by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner,
with Wagner serving as chief operating officer of U.A. and Cruise to
star in and produce pics for the label, a unit of MGM.

In its new incarnation, U.A. will produce four pics a year, a number
that inventually increase. The films will be marketed and distribbed
by MGM.

Cruise and Wagner will control the development, production and
greenlighting of U.A. films, though will be subject to certain
perameters.

Cruise/Wagner Productions had long been based at Paramount, but
exited the Melrose lot in August when Par would not re-up the deal at
the $10 million annual rate the duo had been receiving. The split
became national news when Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone publicly
chastised Cruise for his “inappropriate” behavior and said the star’s
salary was too high considering the current economics of the movie
industry.

News is the latest development at MGM since chairman-CEO Harry Sloan
took over the studio last year and has been aggressively rebuilding
the company into a distribution and marketing entity.

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Courtney Rabada
Office of Carla Hacken
Fox 2000

Venture Crew 355

A M E N Posted by Venture Crew 355 on Friday, November 03, 2006 at 2:55 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Anil

Finally a film company of the filmmakers, by the filmmakers, and for the filmmakers (and audiences alike) instead of the number-crunching suits & ties execs? Posted by Anil on Tuesday, November 07, 2006 at 10:42 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]