Although the weak performance of Knight And Day suggested that Tom Cruise’s days as a box-office draw may be on the wane, he definitely seems to be prepping for a major comeback (if you want to call it that). Perhaps you can credit the recent examples of Randy Quaid, Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen, and maybe even Nicolas Cage for putting Cruise’s own image problems in perspective, as compared to those guys, his strange Scientology-based natterings and artificially constructed relationships come off as simply cuckoo-nutty, and almost charming in their innocent eccentricity.
Whatever the reason, it’s a relatively good time to be Tom Cruise: His most iconic role is roaring back into theaters, he’ll take the leads in both the high-profile musical Rock Of Ages and the big-budget sci-fi film Oblivion, and now he’s signed to star in an untitled pitch from Crazy, Stupid, Love screenwriter Dan Fogelman, where Cruise will play a popular politician whose career falls apart because of an affair, so he humbly returns home to rebuild his life. That whole fall-from-grace-then-redemption angle should work even more wonders for Cruise; after all, it certainly did in Jerry Maguire. So what do you know—to get back on top, he may not even need the fat suit.