TOM UNDER FIRE
The Mummy has been dubbed a box-office disaster, and some insiders are pointing fingers at the film’s star, Tom Cruise. “People thought The Mummy was going to be a blockbuster, but it didn’t click with audiences,” a source tells In Touch. The film had a domestic opening of just $32.2 million and fell off to $13.9 mil during its second weekend. (It reportedly cost $190 million to make and over $100 million more to market and release worldwide). It was also widely panned by critics. “Tom had a very tight grip on production, and some people are saying that is what ruined the film — and possibly the future of the franchise.” A June 14 article in Variety echoes the claims, reporting that Tom, 54, had a contract with Universal that gave him script approval and control over post-production decisions, and calling it “a textbook case of a movie star run amok.” The Mummy is shaping up to be one of the biggest flops of his career. “At this point,” says an insider, “it’s not a stretch to say that his status as an A-list action hero is on the line.”