Steven Spielberg Says Tom Cruise Saved Hollywood With 'Top Gun: Maverick'
Legendary film director Steven Spielberg had some kind, and possibly accurate, words for Tom Cruise recently.
Spielberg and Cruise were at the Oscar’s nominee luncheon recently, where they ran into each other during the event.
Spielberg pulled Cruise aside and told him that, quite frankly, Top Gun: Maverick may have “saved Hollywood’s ass.”
He went even further, saying the movie may have saved the “entire theatrical” experience and industry singlehandedly.
If Disney continues making the kind of movies they’re putting out, even Cruise may not be enough to save Hollywood.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - JUNE 19: Tom Cruise attends the Korea Red Carpet for "Top Gun: Maverick" at Lotte World on June 19, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)
Spielberg Praises Cruise Without Understanding Why
Spielberg has been responsible for more blockbuster financial properties than virtually anyone in film history.
If anyone has the perspective and awareness of Hollywood necessary to make these statements, it’s him.
But he still misses the point. Cruise and Top Gun: Maverick saved the industry because they rejected the mentality that people like Spielberg have succumbed to.
READ: STEVEN SPIELBERG WAS SO SCARED OF COVID HE THOUGHT HE’D HAVE TO RETIRE
Top Gun was entertainment. Plain and simple. It didn’t inject political messaging where it didn’t belong, or treat certain characters with disdain for their immutable characteristics.
It didn’t tell Americans to hate their country, or to hate each other. Instead, it was the kind of film Hollywood used to make. Entertaining, well made, enjoyable and impartial.
The kind of film that people like Spielberg used to make.
Tom Cruise found an undeserved demographic in the marketplace: the vast majority of Americans.
The reason Hollywood needed saving in the first place is because it forgot the fundamental goal. To entertain.
Cruise and Spielberg have been consummate entertainers in the past. But the vast majority of the industry has decided that political activism should be the top priority.
And so the industry has collapsed, hemorrhaging revenue over the past few years. Top Gun and Tom Cruise may have saved Hollywood and movie theaters, for now. But for the industry to last, it’ll have to return to doing what it actually does best.
Entertain.