Cult News

It’s official, Tom Cruise’s star power has been diminished and the likely reason is his Scientology-linked rants and accompanying bizarre behavior.

Despite zipping around on his jet to perform publicity stunts at various venues in an effort to attract attention and box office action, the middle-aged action hero of Mission Impossible III saw ticket sales come in at $10 million less than the last installment of his much touted Mission Impossible series.

“Hollywood tongues are wagging…asking if Tom Cruise’s image may be to blame” reported People Magazine.

And if the first weekend is any indication of a trend the 43-year-old star’s fans seem to be decidedly responding to Cruise’s media meltdown over the past many months by not showing up to support his latest film.

“There’s a lot to be said for how a star’s public persona can affect a movie’s box office,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

One Canadian newspaper the Ottawa Sun  asked what would once have been considered unthinkable–are “fans on a mission to snub Tom Cruise?”

Talks of boycotts and protests against the star have proliferated over the Internet in recent weeks.

One Internet forum even discussed flying planes with trailing banners to mock Cruise and Scientology as a protest at the Hollywood premiere of MI-3.

In an apparent effort to boost the sagging stardom of Scientology’s “Top Gun” it is rumored his fellow religionists are buying up blocks of tickets at one LA cinema.

But unlike Mel Gibson’s devoted religious fans, which made that star hundreds of millions supporting his cinematic vision of Jesus, it appears there are just not enough Scientologists to make a difference for Tom Cruise.

What does appear certain though is the purported “world’s greatest movie star” has stumbled and Hollywood studios may be far less likely to trust him to carry a big budget movie again.

Tom Cruise seems to have suffered this career setback largely due to his personal and religious hubris. And in Hollywood hubris may be OK, but not when it directly has an effect upon profits.