Three-time Oscar nominee Tom Cruise once gave his Eyes Wide Shut castmate — three-time Oscar nominee Todd Field — advice on making his feature directorial debut after disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein nearly chopped it to pieces.
When the 58-year-old SoCal native was having difficulty adapting Andre Dubus’ 1979 short story Killings, the New York–born 60-year-old actor scoffed: ‘You’re just making excuses. Figure it out.’
Todd eventually wrote the script, got the rights, cast Tom’s first cousin William Mapother, and debuted his 2001 indie drama In The Bedroom at the Sundance Film Festival.
Pals: Three-time Oscar nominee Tom Cruise once gave his Eyes Wide Shut castmate — three-time Oscar nominee Todd Field — advice on making his feature directorial debut; seen in June 2022
Colleagues: Cruise starred in Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 classic Eyes Wide Shut (pictured), while Field (R) played a major supporting role as an old friend who gets him into serious trouble
But when Miramax Films acquired In the Bedroom, Field was devastated because he worried CEO Harvey Weinstein would ‘recut his movie to shreds.’
‘I was weeping in the bathroom,’ the Tár filmmaker recalled to The New Yorker on Saturday.
‘I called up Tom Cruise and said, “Something terrible has happened.” He basically said, “This is how you’re going to play it. It’s going to take you six months, and you’ll beat him, but you have to do exactly what I’m going to tell you to do, step by step.”‘
Stop complaining! Field, (L, 58) was having difficulty adapting Andre Dubus’ 1979 short story Killings, the New York-born 60-year-old (R) scoffed: ‘You’re just making excuses. Figure it out’
It’s all who you know! Todd eventually wrote the script, got the rights, cast Tom’s first cousin William Mapother (L), and debuted his 2001 indie drama In the Bedroom at the Sundance Film Festival
‘I was weeping in the bathroom’: But when Miramax Films acquired In the Bedroom, Field was devastated because he worried CEO Harvey Weinstein (R, pictured in 2002) would ‘recut his movie to shreds’
Cruise told Todd to allow the 70-year-old convicted sex offender to re-edit his film, wait for it to test poorly, and then convince the disgraced movie mogul to release the original version.
After test audiences rejected the reedited version that Weinstein championed, Field was able to convince Miramax to go back to the original director’s cut, which had played so well for Sundance audiences.
In the Bedroom went on to amass an impressive $44.8M off a $1.7M budget, and it earned five Oscar nominations and three Golden Globe nominations.
For his new movie Tár, Field is nominated for seven trophies — including best picture, director and screenplay — at the 28th Critics’ Choice Awards, which air Sunday night on The CW.
The Tár filmmaker recalled to The New Yorker: ‘I called up Tom Cruise and said, “Something terrible has happened.” He basically said, “This is how you’re going to play it. It’s going to take you six months, and you’ll beat him, but you have to do exactly what I’m going to tell you to do, step by step”‘ (pictured in 2001)
The Others executive producers: Cruise told Todd to allow the 70-year-old convicted sex offender (R) to re-edit his film, wait for it to test poorly, and then convince the disgraced movie mogul to release the original version
Critically-acclaimed hit: In the Bedroom went on to amass $44.8M off a $1.7M budget, and it earned five Oscar nominations and three Golden Globe nominations
Tár star Cate Blanchett — who already won the Golden Globe last Tuesday — is up for best actress at the Critics Choice Awards, the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards on February 26, and 38th Independent Spirit Awards on March 4.
The AFI Conservatory grad’s canceled conductor drama is also up for seven trophies — including best picture, director, and screenplay — at the 38th Independent Spirit Awards on March 4.
Meanwhile, Top Gun: Maverick’s theme song Hold My Hand is nominated for a trophy at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards on February 5, and its stunt team is up for a trophy at the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards on February 26.
Airing Sunday night on The CW! For his new movie Tár, Field is nominated for seven trophies — including best picture, director, and screenplay — at the 28th Critics’ Choice Awards
Frontrunner: Tár star Cate Blanchett — who already won the Golden Globe last Tuesday — is up for best actress at the Critics Choice Awards, the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards on February 26, and 38th Independent Spirit Awards on March 4
Source: dailymail
