Although he’s received a hero’s welcome everywhere he goes for Top Gun: Maverick’s big role in reviving the theater market after the Covid pandemic, Tom Cruise isn’t stopping at the Oscars tonight.
He’s back to work – you’ll soon see him filming on a carrier in Sicily, and he’s now back in the UK – and if Top Gun can pull off an upset, Jerry Bruckheimer will have to step up and take a bow. , although Cruise is one of the producers.
We can also confirm information from our sister publication Variety that Lady Gaga will be on hand to perform the Oscar-nominated song Hold My Hand from the film. Initially, she was expected to skip the proceedings — some wondered how she would top her “A Star Is Born” duet with Bradley Cooper a few years ago — and producers said they planned to use clips from the film as the song played. But he will get an Oscar. It may be too late to help the ratings, but it certainly infuses the Oscarcast with a little more star power. And maybe Cruise will make a video entrance.
While the talk of Hollywood this week is whether all the post-pandemic momentum will come to a screeching halt because of a writer’s strike — and there’s clearly a payday and residual changes to reckon with, mostly due to streaming — Cruise is set to deliver. Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, released on July 14, experienced a second jolt at the box office. He and director Christopher McQuarrie are racing to finish the second part of this epic saga, which Paramount already has on June 28, 2024.
Who has time for the frivolities of awards season? There were rumors that Cruise might enter the Best Actress category and present the award, but that was shot down last week. It happened twice more recently: Heath Ledger, who died before winning his Oscar, turned on Robin Williams. Oscar winners Jennifer Lawrence and Jodie Foster opted out when Casey Affleck pulled out amid controversy after winning at Sea in Manchester. award.
Last year’s winner, Will Smith, will not receive any awards after his decade-long ban for slapping Chris Rock last year. We’re still trying to figure out who gave the award, but we’ve heard Halle Berry and Tom Hanks are watching. Pure speculation, but what an elegant pairing of Oscar winners. Stay with us.