Tom Cruise Shooting ‘Mission: Impossible 8’ on U.S. Aircraft Carrier Off Italian Coast

Tom Cruise doesn't appear to be on a mission to see his youngest daughter, a new report suggests. A source told Page Six that the "Top Gun: Maverick" star has not seen Suri Cruise, 16, "in a very long time and is not a part of her life."Tom's relationship with his daughter began growing estranged after his 2011 split from Suri's mom, Katie Holmes. Their relationship has only grown more distant, the report alleges.There has been speculation — and, to an extent, confirmation — for over a decade that Scientology, Tom's preferred religion, played a role in the estrangement.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian director Susanna Nicchiarelli, whose trilogy of female biopics, “Nico, 1988,” “Miss Marx,” and “Chiara” all launched from the Venice Film Festival, is set to direct the TV series “Fireworks” depicting the struggle of Italy’s partisans against Nazis and Fascists through the point of view of a twelve-year-old girl named Marta. Shooting is set to start on May 8 in the Piedmontese Alps on “Fireworks,” which is being produced by Domenico Procacci’s Fandango and Rome shingle Matrioska. Fandango, who is the show’s lead producer, is in advanced talks with Italian state broadcaster RAI to come on board. Fandango is also talking up the six-episode limited series at the Series Mania confab in Lille, France, where they are seeking prospective international partners.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian Canadian actor Giacomo Gianniotti, who played Dr. Andrew DeLuca on “Grey’s Anatomy,” is set to star in “Inganno,” Netflix’s Italian adaptation of the U.K. TV series “Gold Digger” that starts shooting this week on the Amalfi coast. The taboo-breaking show – which was dubbed a “toyboy thriller” by the British press – depicts the passionate and turbulent relationship between an older woman and a man who is half her age. In this case the affair disrupts and subverts Italian social and family norms. A “Gold Digger” adaptation for Indian audiences is also reportedly in the works. “Inganno,” which means “deceit” in Italian, is being directed by Neapolitan auteur Pappi Corsicato whose “The Seed of Discord” competed at the Venice Film Festival in 2008. Corsicato’s visual style is often compared to Pedro Almodovar, of whom he has been an assistant.

Suri Cruise is ready for college. A new report says that the 16-year-old is applying to various universities and appears to be focused on New York City. It also says that her relationship with her father, Tom Cruise, has grown more and more distance with the passage of time, with him having no input on her college picks.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Influential Italian auteur Francesco “Citto” Maselli who worked with Lucia Bosé, Claudia Cardinale, Shelley Winters and Valeria Golino on films that combined his political passion with his bent for female-centered dramas, has died in Rome. Maselli, who was known for making left-wing militant cinema, was 92. The director’s death was announced to Italian news agency ANSA by Maurizio Acerbo, leader of Italy’s small Communist Refoundation Party, the group of die-hard Italian leftists that Maselli championed, and confirmed by the director’s wife. The exact cause of Maselli’s death was not revealed.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Roland Emmerich’s large-scale gladiator series “Those About to Die,” starring Anthony Hopkins as Emperor Vespasian, has started shooting at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios. Several new cast members have been announced, including “Game of Thrones” alumn Iwan Rheon. Rheon, who in “Thrones” played the villainous Ramsay Bolton – and can currently be seen in Emmerich-produced film “The Magic Flute” – will replace Lorenzo Richelmy who has exited the Peacock show due to scheduling conflicts. Also joining the “Those About to Die” cast are Liraz Charhi (“Tehran”) who will play Berenice, Queen of the conquered Judeans; and Rupert Penry-Jones (“The Batman”) as retired general Marsus who aspires to succeed Vespasian on the imperial throne (they are pictured above).

David Letterman is curious about a missing nominee during Sunday night’s Oscars.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director David Letterman visited “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and had a burning question for the host, who recently earned great reviews for his stint hosting the 2023 Oscars. “Here’s something that’s a little sensitive: Tom Cruise,” Letterman said. “Where was Tom Cruise?” Despite “Top Gun: Maverick” earning six Academy Award nominations and Cruise being a nominee for best picture as one of the film’s producers, the A-list star skipped the 2023 ceremony. Reports surfaced ahead of the show that Cruise was too busy shooting the “Mission: Impossible” sequel in Italy to attend, but the actor popped up in London two days after the Oscars to attend Michael Caine’s 90th birthday party. Cruise also showed up at the Oscars Nominees Luncheon in February.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s 40% tax rebates for international film and TV series are a magnet that has been crucial to luring lots of shoots to the country. These incentives are behind the current contemporaneous presence on the Cinecittà Studios lot of Oscar-winner Edward Berger’s new film “Conclave,” Netflix period soap “Decameron,” and Roland Emmerich’s Peacock gladiator series “Those About to Die,” to name a few examples.  That’s why Italian Deputy Culture Minister Lucia Bergonzoni on Oscar week travelled to Los Angeles to meet with Hollywood studio and streamer chiefs. Her mission: to dispel fears swirling in the global film community ever since Italy’s new right-wing government was installed in October 2022 regarding the prospect that the Italian rebates could be pulled or in some way watered down. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix has acquired global rights to Italian rom-com “Era Ora” (“Still Time”), marking a rare instance in which an Italian comedy is set to gain worldwide visibility. “Still Time” is directed by Alessandro Aronadio, a Los Angeles Film School graduate whose first work “One Life, Maybe Two” launched from Berlin’s Panorama section. The concept comedy stars Edoardo Leo (“Perfect Strangers”) as a workaholic named Dante who is perpetually late to everything important and Barbara Ronchi, soon to be seen in Marco Bellocchio’s “La Conversione,” as his girlfriend Alice with whom Dante winds up leaping ahead a year every few hours, just as he wants to slow down.

Tom Cruise was notoriously absent from the Academy Awards. The actor, who starred and produced “Top Gun: Maverick,” has had a big year, earning six nominations for his film. According to a news report, he reportedly skipped out on the event to avoid a run in with his ex wife Nicole Kidman.Tom Cruise invited to big royal event this year: ReportDiego Boneta says Tom Cruise was like his mentor; does hilarious impressionThe Daily Mail reported that Cruise wanted to avoid an awkward run in with his ex at all costs.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “The Last of Us” has become the most-viewed title ever on HBO’s subscription streaming service in Europe. Warner Bros. Discovery announced on Tuesday that the first season of the nine-episode apocalyptic-drama has smashed HBO’s SVOD European viewer ratings. This result comes after the season one finale set another ratings high in the U.S. on Sunday night, delivering 8.2 million viewers across HBO Max and linear telecasts, based on Nielsen and first party data. The series, which is based on the critically acclaimed video game of the same name developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation, has been a hit from the get go. “The Last of Us” is now averaging 30.4 million viewers in the U.S. across its first six episodes, according to HBO, with the first episode approaching 40 million viewers in the U.S. Outside of the U.S.. The show is now also the most-watched show ever on HBO Max in Latin America.

Hannah Waddingham has joined the cast of Mission: Impossible 8!

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Warning: This story contains a graphic image. David Cronenberg has made a short film featuring female wax corpses made during the 18th century in Italy. The wax figures were intended for medical studies, in order to train surgeons prior to operating on real bodies. The Canadian director, known as the father of body horror thanks to films such as “The Fly,” “eXistenZ,” and his latest pic “A History of Violence,” has been recruited by Italian fashion house Prada to shoot the short film. It features anatomical wax works from the La Specola museum in Florence, one of the oldest scientific museums in Europe. The museum is currently being renovated and is closed to the public.

Tom Cruise helicoptered onto a U.S. aircraft carrier last weekend to shoot scenes for his upcoming film "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two" off the eastern coast of Italy, the head of the Apulia Film Commission confirmed.  The "Top Gun: Maverick" star flew into the port of Bari on the country’s southeastern coast Saturday, where he spent the night at a five-star hotel before choppering to the floating set the next day, Antonio Parente, said Thursday.  Parente told Variety the ship was headed north toward Croatia during the shoot, and Cruise is expected to leave from Bari at the end of the week.  "Dead Reckoning Part Two" will be the eighth "Mission: Impossible" film for Cruise.The 60-year-old first played spy Ethan Hunt nearly 30 years ago in 1996’s "Mission: Impossible."  "We are proud that [the] Apulia [region] has been chosen as the operational base for this rather complex shoot," Parente told the outlet.  The trailer for "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning: Part One," which is slated to be released in July, shows Cruise driving through European cities and riding a horse in the desert as a tie-wearing boss (Henry Czerny) tells him, "Your days of fighting for the so-called 'greater good’ are over" as Cruise shakes his head in disagreement.  Other shots from the action-packed trailer show him running on top of a moving train, getting ready to fly a warplane and driving off a cliff on a motorcycle.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Prior to becoming an actor, Giancarlo Giannini, who on March 6 will be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, studied electronic engineering, a skill he’s been known to put to good use even on movie sets. “I was meant to start working on the first artificial satellites, or on the first computers at IBM,” the Italian film and theater thesp recalls. But then Giannini enrolled in acting school and soon was given major roles, first by Franco Zeffirelli and then by Lina Wertmüller, with whom he went on to make nine movies that brought them both international fame. “I owe it to Lina that I will be getting the star. The only other Italian actor who has one is Rudolph Valentino,” he notes.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s 2,500 dubbing industry workers are on a protracted strike demanding higher wages, less frenzied work conditions, and protection against digital dubbing devices, which they claim threaten their jobs. The country’s unions representing Italian voice actors and dubbing directors have been on the war path since Feb. 21. On Tuesday they announced the strike will continue for at least another week. The unions are demanding that standard contract wages that have remained unvaried for the past 15 years be raised. But they are also clamoring for the right to be able to work at a slower pace, claiming that “current production rhythms are not conducive to [good] quality of work and of life,” according to a statement issued by Italian dubbers’ union ANAD.

Diego Boneta will always be thankful for Tom Cruise. The Mexican actor recently stopped by the Jennifer Hudson Show, where he opened up about his time on set with Cruise for his breakout film Rock of Ages, calling him a mentor.Boneta plays the lead in Rock of Ages (2012) which stars a-listers Cruise, Mary J Blige, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin and Catherine Zeta-Jones. He told Hudson it was a learning experience, who quickly asked to see his impression of Cruise.

Tom Cruise is refuting a long-held rumour that he was nearly cast as the lead in “Iron Man” before the studio ultimately decided on Robert Downey Jr.

Tim Gray Senior Vice President With 20/20 hindsight, the mega-success of Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” might seem inevitable, since it is a sequel to a familiar title, and it stars Tom Cruise. Of course nothing is a sure bet. And even with its popularity, there was no assurance Academy voters would embrace it. But the film earned $1.48 billion at the worldwide box office and scored Oscar noms for best picture, adapted screenplay, editing, sound, song (by Lady Gaga and BloodPop) and visual effects. The best picture nom recognizes four producers: Tom Cruise, David Ellison, Christopher McQuarrie and, after nearly 50 years in the industry, Jerry Bruckheimer, who is celebrating his first Oscar nomination.