While he’s been greeted with a hero’s welcome everywhere he’s been for Top Gun: Maverick’s big role in reviving the theater market after the Covid pandemic, Tom Cruise isn’t staying at the Oscars tonight.
He’s back to work – you’ll be seeing stuff of him filming on a carrier in Sicily soon, and he’s back in the UK now – and if Top Gun manages to cause an upset, Jerry Bruckheimer needs to bust and take the bow, although Cruise is one of the producers.
We can also confirm news from our sister publication Variety that Lady Gaga will be in attendance to sing Hold My Hand, the Oscar-nominated song from the film. She was originally expected to skip the procedure – some wondered how she could top her duet ‘A Star is Born’ with Bradley Cooper a few years ago – and producers said they planned to release clips from the film to use while the song is playing. But she will grace the Oscars. It might be too late to help the ratings, but it certainly fills in the Oscar cast with a little more star power. And maybe Cruise will do a video intro.
Even as there’s talk in Hollywood this week of whether all post-pandemic momentum will grind to a halt over a writers’ strike — and obviously a reckoning of payday and the remaining changes largely driven by streaming — needs to be done. , Cruise is ready to give The box office took a second jolt with the July 14 release of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. He and director Christopher McQuarrie aim to complete the second part of this massive saga, with Paramount already posting the film on June 28, 2024.
Who has time for awards season frivolities? There were rumors that Cruise might introduce the Best Actress category and present this award, but that was shot down last week. Two other cases have happened recently: Heath Ledger, who died before winning his Oscar, substituted Robin Williams. And when Casey Affleck quit amid controversy after his win in Manchester By The Sea, Oscar winners Jennifer Lawrence and Jodie Foster gave up on the award.
Will Smith, last year’s winner, will certainly not be handing out any more awards after his 10-year ban for slapping Chris Rock last year. We’re still trying to figure out who gives the award, but we’ve heard keep an eye on Halle Berry and Tom Hanks. Pure speculation, but what an elegant pairing of Oscar winners. Stay tuned.