American filmmaker, Spielberg has publicly lauded Tom Cruise. He credited Tom Cruise for saving the movie business with his last release Top Gun: Maverick. It is reported that he said this during the last Oscar Nominee’s luncheon. Spielberg and Cruise have a long-standing relationship. Both of them worked together on 2002’s Minority Report and 2005’s War of the Worlds.
Both are said to have stood against each other with their respective films; The Fabelmans, and Top Gun: Maverick. Essentially, both movies have been nominated under the Best Film category at the 95th Academy Awards, to be hosted on March 12 by Jimmy Kimmel.
Spielberg had lauded the actor during a private exchange as he says;
You saved Hollywood’s ass, and you might have saved theatrical distribution,” .
“Seriously, Maverick might have saved the entire theatrical industry.”
Cruise being humbled by the ace filmmaker’s compliment, simply shook his head, smiling. It was reported that Tom Cruise has pushed for Studio Paramount to hold Maverick for theatrical release. He did this while resisting the temptation to release the film to a streaming service in 2020.
Maverick eventually ended up with the highest-grossing domestic box office of 2022, bringing in $718 million. Combined with foreign receipts, the sequel totalled $1.5 billion.
Other movies as the 2021 blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home have also been credited widely with helping to revive moviegoing post-pandemic but;
Maverick was seen as busting through the usual superhero movie dominance, plus bringing older moviegoers back to the theaters.
Maverick has six Oscar nominations, including best picture while Spielberg’s acclaimed biographical drama The Fabelmans is up for seven Oscars, including best picture and best director.
