Meet Tom Cruise's new best friend

Michael Vollman knows how to market a movie the way Joe Torre knows how to manage a baseball team. I've walked through movie theater lobbies with him, watching him critique each movie poster on the wall, shrewdly assessing all the different messages the poster images and iconography were sending. So it's good news for MGM to see that the talent-challenged studio has snatched Vollman away from Paramount to run worldwide marketing for MGM and United Artists.

Short of cash and often woefully lacking in quality films, the studio has struggled to make a dent in the marketplace in recent years. Even worse, its re-launch of UA with Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner at the helm has been a disaster. UA's first Cruise-starring film flopped and the buzz about its upcoming Cruise vehicle, the Bryan Singer-directed "Valkyrie," has been, well, nothing but bad. (Dennis Rice, UA's marketing chief, is being pushed out, presumably taking the fall for UA's troubles.) So it's telling that when MGM wooed Vollman, he didn't just meet with studio boss Harry Sloan and production chief Mary Parent but Cruise as well. "I had dinner with Tom and Mary and I have to say, it was pretty cool," Vollman told me this morning. "I've been around a lot of movie stars, but Tom is really impressive. He knows about marketing, he knows about stardom and he knows about entertaining people. Trust me, I'm going to work my ass off for him."

Vollman says that after hearing Sloan and Parent's plans to roll out a slate of quality commercial films, he was sold on taking the job. "Harry is a very smart guy and Mary has this amazing 24-hour-a-day desire to win. I loved working for [Paramount executives] Rob Moore and Gerry Rich, and of course for [DreamWorks Animation chief] Jeffrey Katzenberg, but having the opportunity to be a part of something that is being built from the ground up was too good to pass up."

It's been no secret that MGM was desperately seeking some new marketing muscle. It spent weeks wooing Terry Press, Vollman's longtime boss and mentor during his 10-year tenure at DreamWorks, but Press backed out after someone at MGM leaked news of the impending hire before she'd even made a deal. Vollman knows he has challenges ahead, especially with "Valkyrie," which has been battered by constant media sniping. Ever the canny marketer, when I asked about the troubled production, Vollman defended the movie by repositioning it. "Hey," he said. "It's a Bryan Singer and Chris McQuarrie movie. Look at what they've each done, from 'The Usual Suspects' to 'X-Men.' Everyone on the outside keeps hoo-hawing it, but no one's seen anything. Let me tell you--there's a real movie there."

Vollman will continue to work both jobs through the release of Paramount's "Tropic Thunder" (which has an incredible cameo by hip-hop dancing Tom Cruise) next month, then start work full time at MGM Aug. 18. He's already been looking at "Valkyrie" creative materials and reading MGM scripts. Parent sent him "Cabin in the Woods," a Joss Whedon thriller that will be directed by Drew Goddard. "I couldn't put it down," says Vollman. "It's 'Buffy' meets 'Cloverfield.' All I could think was--I can market the [heck] out of that."

For us skeptics, it sounds like MGM must have given their new marketing wizard some potent Kool-Aid to drink. It will be interesting to see if Vollman sounds so confident a year from now, but it's certainly safe to say that he's hit the ground running.

Photo of Tom Cruise by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Comments

[st pooch]

quote: Michael Vollman "Trust me, I'm going to work my ass off "

[Hanaki]

Hey, it is possible that he can make a movie look cool. Because, when it comes to the people who actually make the trailers and the posters, I've been very impressed with others, and flabbergasted knowing I had better ideas, and wondered why those people did not come up with what I thought of. So I can't wait to see what this dude will do. Sometimes you just need to be really creative so people can see it. I definitely hope this guy can push out a new trailer for Valkyrie. I've seen cool trailers, and I definitely see potential in making a better trailer for the movie than the first one.

[J. Earley]

Hello Mr. Vollman,

I would like an opportunity to pitch a spec script to you absent the formal industry routes which are clogged with endless red tap. I confess, I don't have Final Draft or Movie Magic screen writing computer programs, however I composed my screenplay in the format George Lucas used for his original Star Wars script.

The screenplay I have written is an original work and is a high concept low budget production. In total, I have designed it to be shot on a cost which is on par with 3 to 4 one one hour episodes of any current hour long drama series...likewise, it would be produced under a shooting schedule which is comparable to series television.

In closing, my script, and the story therein...will evoke the reaction in all who learn its concept of "Why didn't I think of that?". If you decide to take me up on my pitch request, please contact the web master of this web site. I am formally giving that individual my permission to release my email address to you. Just give me 5 minutes to make my pitch, if you don't like it, I'll thank you and leave your offices...but I believe in my heart that this is a pitch worthy of you time and attention. Thank you for your consideration.

Signed, J. Earley

[JPS]

Has Patrick Goldstein heard about the Tom Cruise UA?Deamworks collaboration on The Omniverse Almanac trilogy in 2009?

Check out the scoop on www.extramarbles.com, or Google The Omniverse Almanac

[ANONYMOUS]

Tom has killed his own career by making movies which are not suited to his image/fan base (Valkyrie springs to mind) and because he continues to publicly endorse a religion which is a thinly disguised pyramid selling scheme that tortures it non-celebrity members. Oh and his wife has gone from ultra beauty to wizened crone in 12 short months. When he weans himself off the superman delusions, he'll have a successful movie, until then, the wilderness & ridicule continues to beckon.

[Tim Tremper, Berlin Germany]

Anyone remembers the bad news on TITANIC, before it became the hit nobody expected? Too expensive, too long, everybody knows the end...
Fact is, no studio only carries winners. Some film perform better, some worse. Was Dustin Hofmann out after "Ishtar"? Spielberg after "1941" or “Peter Pan”? Cruise is a powerhouse, at his age and career hits, he is simply doesn’t need to star in four films a year. Wasn’t it Ronald Reagan who said: “Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere.”

[JP]

The Omniverse Almanac would be a good vehicle for Tom Cruise. www.extramarbles.com

[Almanac]

According to The Omniverse Almanac, Tom Cruise is actualy one of the few good guys inhabiting this planet, along with Steven Spielberg, Jessica Biel, Justin Timberlake, The Dalai Lama,....

Check out The Omniverse Almanac on Google Search

[Serge G]

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