By Kim Masters
TheDailyBeast.com
With a new action movie out this summer, Tom Cruise has been shrewdly rehabilitating his image while Mel Gibson flounders. We talk to Cruise's inner circle about the comeback.
Tom Cruise does not want to be No. 2. A week ago, Fox moved Cruise's upcoming action-romance, "Knight and Day," from its July 2 release date to the previous weekend. And so Cruise dodged a bullet: The comeback movie pairing him with Cameron Diaz got out of the way of a behemoth known as "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."
In the middle of a carefully orchestrated comeback, Cruise did not want his film to open at anything but No. 1. He did not want to look like the older alternative to the wan youths of "Twilight." "Let's face it, he is resurrecting his career," says an executive working on the project. "This is an incredibly important movie for him."
Choosing this movie—in a genre that suits his audience and teams him with a big-name co-star—was just one of a number of smart moves that Cruise has made to course-correct a career that had jolted off the rails. The carefully orchestrated process—following a highly unusual "intervention" by a cadre of professionals who explained to Cruise that his career was actually in trouble—makes an interesting contrast to the path followed by another major star who's trying to rebuild his relationship with fans.
Video: Watch the 'Knight and Day' trailer
Mel Gibson went through a notorious drunk-driving arrest in 2006, accompanied by a reported anti-Semitic and sexist outburst. And then came a divorce from his wife who stayed with him for 28 years and bore him seven children. And then, a young girlfriend and another baby.
Meanwhile, Cruise had his couch-jumping episode on "Oprah," his tangle with Matt Lauer on the "Today" show and a viral tape in which he seemed to be high on enthusiasm for Scientology. Gibson's transgressions may have been more serious, but Cruise came off as weird—not a great quality for a popcorn-movie icon.
Gibson's comeback role, his first in eight years, was in a 2010 movie unfortunately titled "Edge of Darkness." In his public appearances, he looked ill at ease. He walked out of a Los Angeles Times interview, citing jittery nerves because he'd just quit smoking. Though he returned to the conversation three days later and the resulting article made him appear respectful, the story began with a description of the walkout.
And that went far better than Gibson's appearance on WGN-TV in Chicago. "Do you think that the public will perceive you any differently after all that's been in the news about you?" an interviewer asked. Gibson hesitated and then said, "What are you referring to specifically?" The response made him seem either far too coy or simply unprepared for an extremely foreseeable question. When the interviewer persisted, Gibson replied with obvious irritation that he has moved on. With that, the interviewer wound up the conversation. "A**hole!" Gibson snapped, with his mike still live. And that, of course, went viral.
"Mel is a very difficult client to control," says a publicity executive who has worked with him. Another veteran publicist says Gibson's problem goes back to the aftermath of the arrest. The actor never issued a clear-cut apology, she says, which is mandatory in those situations. But another high-level executive who has worked with Gibson isn't so sure that would have helped. "There's nothing he could say that would convince me or anybody else that he doesn't feel that way, deep down," he says.
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More to the point, the publicist says Gibson looked fragile as he promoted "Edge of Darkness" and that he appeared to need more help than industry experts can provide. "He's got to get healthy," she says.
"Edge of Darkness" failed to connect with audiences, grossing just $55 million worldwide. That could reflect as much or more on the movie as it does on Gibson, and one executive who has worked with Gibson says he is "too talented a director and maybe as an actor" to fade away. "He could have a solid career until he dies," this observer continues. "But he'll never reach the same levels of popularity."
Gibson's publicist, Alan Nierob, says he disagrees with all these assessments. "Things are going well" for Gibson, he says, pointing out that he's lined up with projects as an actor and director for the next several years. Nierob says the Los Angeles Times interview was a net positive, as were most of Gibson's other press appearances. "He went out and was responsible and sold the film for Warner Brothers," Nierob says. "He did a magazine cover story, a satellite tour, as press junket and toured internationally. You can't ask for more than that."
As for the assertion that Gibson appeared unhealthy, Nierob responds, "He's healthy for a guy who's an alcoholic who's smoked for 40 years.
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