While he was greeted with a hero’s welcome everywhere he went for Top Gun: Maverick’s big role in reviving the theatrical market following the Covid pandemic, Tom Cruise is not hanging around for the Oscars tonight .
He’s back to work – you’ll soon see stuff of him shooting an aircraft carrier in Sicily and he’s now back in the UK – and if Top Gun manages to cause an upset, Jerry Bruckheimer will have to go up and take the bows , even though Cruise is one of the producers.
We can also confirm the scoop from our sister publication Variety that Lady Gaga will be on hand to sing Hold My Hand, the song from the Oscar-nominated film. She was originally expected to skip the procedure – some wondered how she could possibly top her A Star is Born duet with Bradley Cooper a few years ago – and producers have said they plan to. use clips from the movie while playing the song. But she will honor the Oscars. It may be too late to help the ratings, but it sure fills the Oscarcast with a bit more star power. And maybe Cruise will do an intro video.
Even though the talk of Hollywood this week is whether all the post-pandemic momentum will come to a halt because of a writer’s strike – and clearly a calculation needs to be made on payday and the residual changes largely due to streaming – Cruise is set to give the box office a second jolt with the July 14 release of Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. He and director Christopher McQuarrie are racing to complete the second part of this massive saga, with Paramount already dating the film for June 28, 2024.
Who’s got time for awards season frivolities? There had been rumors that Cruise might introduce the Best Actress category and present this award, but that was shot down last week. Two other recent events have occurred: Heath Ledger, who died before winning his Oscar, brought in Robin Williams. the reward.
Will Smith, last year’s winner, will surely hand out no prizes after his decade-long ban for slapping Chris Rock last year. We’re still trying to figure out who’s giving the award, but we’ve heard to keep an eye out for Halle Berry and Tom Hanks. Pure speculation, but what an elegant couple of Oscar winners. Stay tuned.