Why Tom Cruise and Margot Robbie Are Hyping Each Other’s Movies

There is at least one episode of almost every adventure TV show where the good guys and the bad guys team up to take on a greater threat, like when the 1990s syndicated “Untouchables” show saw Elliott Ness and Al Capone team up to catch a child murderer.

Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie dropped tweets last Wednesday promoting rival theatrical films. Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig joined on Friday, via tweets from the official “Barbie” Twitter feed, to show off purchases of tickets to movies that were not “Barbie.” By Friday afternoon, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” director James Mangold had expressed his commitment to see those films and “Oppenheimer” — the most anticipated of July — on opening night. As of Monday, Tom Cruise had pledged to see “Oppenheimer” on July 21 and “Barbie” on July 22.

“Like all things, the traditional means of promoting a movie (especially post-COVID) likely don’t yield the same result that they once did [which] requires contemporary approaches to get the word out and stay in the media cycle,” brand strategist Marcus Collins told TheWrap. “This is a good story that gets people talking about all their movies so they all benefit.”

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Tom Cruise switches to softball

At least one distribution executive wondered out loud if Tom Cruise — or his handlers — planned the photo ops as damage control after reporting in Puck painted him as trying to muscle “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” out of Imax and other large-format screens.

Several high-level studio insiders told TheWrap the alleged Imax feud between “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” and “Oppenheimer” was much ado about nothing. One told TheWrap that the would-be scuffle was merely Cruise showing exhibitors his latest “Mission: Impossible” film in the hopes he could keep some non-Imax auditoriums after July 20.

“Every studio on Earth is asking for more [premium large format] screens,” said a former Hollywood executive.

The seventh “Mission: Impossible” movie opens on July 12 and is likely to lose its Imax screens and many of its other premium auditoriums to the Chris Nolan atom bomb thriller or the toy-based comic fantasy nine days later.

Meanwhile, at least one high-ranking industry executive told TheWrap that Margot Robbie has been lobbying AMC’s Adam Aron for “Barbie” to get its share of non-Imax premium large format screens, a notion that’s been disputed by other insiders. If that’s true, either for Cruise or Robbie, it’s not all about bravado and it’s an understandable move.

A poll conducted by The Cinema Foundation last April noted that 13% of those surveyed would only attend a movie if it was available in a premium auditorium, and even films that have underwhelmed in one territory or another have been expected to overindex in Imax. The premium push is about maximizing the number of theatrical moviegoers who otherwise might opt for streaming or VOD.

Cruise has been Hollywood’s pitchman before

Cruise has a history of playing ambassador for Hollywood.

“Tom Cruise has been supporting theaters for years,” stated one former studio executive speaking on background. “He’s always been a theatrical experience proponent.”

He famously made a big show of putting on a mask and seeing “Tenet” on its global opening weekend in the summer of 2020.

He was the first speaker at the 2002 Academy Awards, asking and answering the question about the necessity and appropriateness of celebrating movies in the shadow of the 9/11 attacks.

And he even joined Stephen King, James Gunn and David Zaslav in praising “The Flash,” even if in that case it was in a private phone call to the film’s directors Andy and Barbara Muschietti.

In this case, Cruise’s message speaks to those who have still not gotten back into the swing of regular theatrical moviegoing because of COVID variables and fears of paying $20 a ticket for a subpar audiovisual presentation or unruly audiences.

“Once you get into the theater and you realize that it’s safe, the audience is being respectful and no one is playing on their phone, it’s a reminder that you once enjoyed the experience,” that former executive declared. The message, the person said, is simple: “If you’re healthy and want to see these movies, please come see all these movies in theaters.”

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A rising theatrical tide lifts all boats

The industry professionals and insiders interviewed by TheWrap uniformly denied a cooperative effort on a studio level.

“Absolutely no coordination,” one high-level studio executive said.

Whether the filmmakers behind “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” may be proverbial rivals, they know that non-theatrical entertainment options are greater threats to their theatrical fortunes.

Regardless of which film earns more at the global box office, those who are heavily invested, financially and philosophically, in the continued existence of global theatrical exhibition are in better shape if the overall theatrical industry is in healthier shape.

It’s why Universal and Focus unleashed a slew of smaller programmers like “Let Him Go” and “Freaky” in late 2020, both to test out their PVOD program and — after a soft domestic performance from Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” caused Hollywood to delay its end-of-2020 tentpole slate — to make sure theaters were still around to play Comcast-distributed biggies like “F9” and “No Time to Die” when COVID improved.

Even Jason Kilar’s controversial Project Popcorn, which sent Warner Bros.’ 2021 releases to HBO Max and theaters concurrently, at least allowed theaters to bank on a consistent slate of big movies like “Godzilla Vs. Kong,” “The Conjuring 3” and “Dune.”

Nolan’s latest epic or Cruise’s actioner can’t earn hundreds of millions at the worldwide box office if movie theaters aren’t fully functioning. And star actors and directors still tend to get a sizable cut of theatrical revenue: Cruise reportedly earned over $100 million after “Top Gun: Maverick” grossed $1.49 billion worldwide.

As much as theaters love periodic blowout hits like “Avatar: The Way of Water” or “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” chains cannot subsist on a few “Super Mario Bros. Movie”-sized blockbusters each year.

“Movie competition isn’t always a zero-sum game,” said Collins. “Outside of a few titles, going to the movies hasn’t fully returned post-COVID. It’s fitting that Tom Cruise would be the one to kick this off because it’s the job of the category leader to save the category.”

Your move, Christopher Nolan.

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