Redskins Owner To Invest in Tom Cruise’s Film Company
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A group led by Washington Redskins owner Daniel M. Snyder agreed to invest in the film production company set up by Tom Cruise after Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures said it was terminating the actor’s contract.
First and Goal LLC will provide development and overhead financing to Cruise/Wagner Productions, the companies said today in a statement. Terms of the two-year deal weren’t disclosed.
The agreement makes good on attempts by Mr. Cruise, 44, to find private backing to replace a 14-year relationship with Paramount. Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone said he was ending Paramount’s 14-year relationship with Mr. Cruise because the actor’s behavior was unacceptable. Mr. Cruise’s attorney, Bert Fields, said he advised his client months earlier not to renew.
Principals in First and Goal include Dwight Schar, chairman of homebuilder NVR Inc., and Mark Shapiro, president and chief executive officer of theme-park operator Six Flags Inc. Mr. Snyder is chairman of Six Flags.
Mr. Cruise will be free to work with any studio, according to the statement. He created Cruise/Wagner with his producing partner, Paula Wagner.
Julie Polkes, a spokeswoman for Cruise/Wagner with Creative Artists Agency, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
“Mission: Impossible III,” Mr. Cruise’s most recent film, earned $393.2 million worldwide from May 5 to July 20, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. It’s the lowest total of his three “Mission: Impossible” movies. Over his career, his films have taken in $2.7 billion in ticket sales in U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
