Whenever anyone criticises Tom Cruise and his acting ability, I always point towards two films where he plays very much against his own type and puts in a performance that is truly breathtaking. Those movies are MAGNOLIA and the 1994 semi-classic INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE.
We all know the story of Tom Cruise's casting as Lestat right? The book's author Anne Rice was outraged that her choice for the part (unknown British actor Julian Sands) was not chosen for the role, with the studio opting to go for the hugely popular Tom Cruise. She famously said that Cruise as Lestat was "so bizarre, it's almost impossible to imagine how it's going to work." Well the movie opened and Tom Cruise was on another planet with his acting and she had to eat her words well and truly saying... "from the moment he appeared, Tom was Lestat for me" and "That Tom did make Lestat work was something I could not see in a crystal ball." INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE was a huge critical and commercial success, taking home over $200 million worldwide and picking up two Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Original Score. Many believed it was Cruises' finest hour but the strange thing is, no sequel ever took place. Strange because Rice wrote many more books in the vampire chronicles series and I'm sure it was actors like Cruise, who at that time (he would soon make MISSION IMPOSSIBLE) would be literally impossible to tempt back for a sequel. Though things have changed now. Cruise is older and now has his own production company with the recently resurrected United Artists, whose first movie out of the blocks LIONS FOR LAMBS was a pretty big flop. Maybe the time is right for a sequel. Hell, if Cruise wants to do it, he certainly has the power to. Here's a scoop from Bloody Disgusting...
"I work at --- and have it on good authority that United Artists is in talks to nab the rights to Anne Rice's The Tale of the Body Thief. There's speculation on my behalf, but UA = Tom Cruise, right? Might we be seeing Tom Cruise back as the Vampire Lestat? That would be pretty good stuff."
THE TALE OF THE BODY THIEF is the fourth novel in the series and it once again follows Lestat and his struggle to regain his humanity. It is something of a continuation from QUEEN OF THE DAMNED, which itself was already filmed in 2002 with the late Aaliyah and Stuart Townsend in the role of Lestat. That movie was terrible and although there are elements in the book from that movie, I think Cruise would surely be making this as a direct sequel to the mid-90's flick. Would director Neil Jordan return to direct? Is Cruise anxious to make this movie now, or will he sit on this project for a while? I hope this rumor is true. I would love to see Cruise give Lestat another shot.
Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.
