It's Just Movies

— by SEAN GERSKI —

There are people who will try to tell you that Tom Cruise is no longer a big movie star. Don’t buy it.

If you want to play a fun game, listen when directors, other actors or movie studio executives talk about movies. Whenever they need to reference a movie star, they almost always pick Cruise. For example: “We have a small movie here, it’s not as though we can afford Tom Cruise.”

If you want someone who delivers a very good performance and markets the heck out of a movie, you can’t do much better than Tom Cruise.

Which brings us to “Knight and Day.” According to 20th Century Fox, the movie is: An action-comedy centered on a fugitive couple (Cruise and Diaz) on a glamorous and sometimes deadly adventure where nothing and no one — even themselves — are what they seem. Amid shifting alliances and unexpected betrayals, they race across the globe, with their survival ultimately hinging on the battle of truth vs. trust.

It sound like precisely the kind of movie Cruise should be doing. And Cameron Diaz seems like a fine co-star for him on this project.

The title is somewhat generic, but it is better than “Wichita,” which was the original name of the movie.

Directed by the very talented James Mangold (of movies such as “3:10 to Yuma,” “Copland,” “Walk the Line” and “Girl, Interrupted”), “Knight and Day” also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Grace, Paul Dano, Marc Blucas, Viola Davis and Olivier Martinez.

It is scheduled to be released in early July 2010 in much of the world.

The following poster, taken from the movie’s Facebook page, is kind of fun. It’s the sort of image that would make a great cover for a DVD or a blu-ray, but you won’t see it there. DVD covers always feature the stars of the movie on the cover for marketability — and Cruise is one of the bggest stars there is.

Follow Sean Gerski on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DoubleDown44.