Tom Cruise shoots secret video for Paramount celebrating studio’s legacy and new era (Exclusive)

If you were at the Paramount over the weekend and saw a figure standing on the famous water tower on Melrose Avenue, and then asked yourself, “Hey, is that Tom Cruise on the water tower?”, the answer is, why yes, that was Tom Cruise on the water tower.

Sources say Cruise was filming scenes for a video promoting “A Brand New Day” at Paramount, which was acquired by David Ellison and his media company Skydance last summer. It is not clear who the other stars or directors will appear in the work, which is a work in progress, according to sources. It is not clear whether what is meant is internal or external viewing. (Maybe at CinemaCon in April?)

John M. Chu, director of the latter evil Movies is at the helm of the video, which aims to celebrate the studio’s history and legacy, as well as its future, a topic that has captured Hollywood’s attention over the past few months. Chu is also part of the New Paramount family, having signed a first-look deal with both the film and TV side of the company in December.

A Paramount spokesman declined to comment.

The video comes as Ellison reboots Paramount through a series of deals. There is, of course, the $110 billion endeavor for Warner Bros. Discovery, but also a slew of talent deals signed under co-chairmen Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, with the likes of Cho, the Duffer Brothers, Will Smith Westbrook, James Mangold, Issa Rae and others. He has also pursued intellectual property-driven deals and acquisitions, acquiring The Free Press from Bari Weiss and installing it at CBS News, inking a $7.7 billion deal to acquire the rights to the UFC and inking a deal with Activision to create Call of duty Movie franchise.

If the WBD deal goes ahead, Ellison’s empire would span DC Comics, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and a host of other franchises, making her a huge player in Hollywood, rivaled only by Disney in IP firepower and Disney and Netflix in reach.

Cruise has had a strong relationship with Paramount dating back decades, thanks in part to… Top Gun and Mission: impossible And movies like Thunder days and Company. He and Ellison have worked together for years with co-financing from Skydance Top Gun: Maverick And also the last one Mission: impossible films.

The actor left the studio in January 2024 and signed a “strategic partnership” with Warner Bros. The only film that has come out of this collaboration at this stage is… diggerAlejandro G. Inarritu’s new film coming in October. And with the impending takeover, the actor finds himself back in the arms of Paramount.

The cruise was a busy weekend. On top of Saturday’s photo shoot, the actor was front and center at the Saturn Awards on Sunday, presenting his longtime collaborator Christopher McQuarrie with the Vision Award along with the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror’s Vision Award. The actor took advantage of the moment to say hello to several of his colleagues, including Guillermo del Toro, James Cameron, and Alex Kurtzman. It also led to a standing ovation after George Lucas received the Saturn Award.