In recent days, Tom Cruise has stated his desire to star in more auteur films and he’s hitting the ground running. It was announced yesterday that he’d be starring in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s next film. In addition, it’s been rumored that he’ll also have a role in Quentin Tarantino’s final film, The Movie Critic.

While this late career turn may not seem major, it truly is in the sense that Cruise is working to open the eyes of younger audiences to artsier films. People my age grew up watching Cruise as an action star. If you didn’t look in the past then that’s all you would know. You wouldn’t see him as a wild teen in Risky Business or an angsty pool-hustler in The Color of Money. Cruise’s turn will help save smaller arthouse flicks which are regarded as great, yet struggle at the box office.

Cruise’s last two films were hits at the box office. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One made $567.5 million this past summer and Top Gun: Maverick made $1.493 billion in the summer of 2022. His presence at the box office his remarkable. Cruise getting back into character driven roles in films with dense plot means one thing: people are going to see them in theaters and make money. If you’re a movie fan, you should be excited that one of the last remaining movie stars is working to improve the film industry and keep it alive.

Details of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Next Film

As of right now, the plot for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s next film is under lock and key. The same goes for the films title. What we do know however is that Cruise will star in it and it’s for Warner Brothers studio.

Even though that’s all we know, the expectations should be high. With González Iñárritu behind the camera, there’s a lot to be excited for. He’s won four Academy Awards, three for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and one for The Revenant. But even past his Oscar-winning films, his filmography is dense. All of his movies focus heavily on deep characters who develop over time. They’re also plot-centric and work to engage the audience. It’ll be refreshing to see because Cruise is great at blending into characters that Iñárritu directs. Whether it’s in Eyes Wide Shut or Jerry Maguire, Cruise kills character-driven roles. Nonetheless, I’m excited to see him working with Iñárritu.

Cruise Continues His Run Of Working With Legendary Directors

Over Cruise’s illustrious career, he’s worked with some of the industries most legendary film makers. His first run-in with an iconic director was in 1982 when he starred in Curtis Hanson’s comedy Losin’ It. The following year in 1983, he was a part of a loaded cast in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders. From 1985 to 1986, Cruise worked with Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, and Martin Scorsese. That’s where his career really began to take off.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Cruise was once again courted by highly-touted directors like Barry Levinson, Oliver Stone, Tony Scott (again), Ron Howard, Rob Reiner, and Sydney Pollack. After some on-set turmoil in Interview with the Vampire, Cruise teamed up with talented directors like Brian De Palma, Cameron Crowe, Stanley Kubrick, and in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia, he gave one of my favorite performance of all time as Frank ‘T.J.’ Mackey. Between 2000 and 2010, as he transitioned to more of an action star, Cruise worked with John Woo, Steven Spielberg (twice), Michael Mann, Robert Redford, and James Mangold.

Since 2010, he’s made the full transition to an action star and continued to work with great directors. He teamed up with Christopher McQuarrie multiple times, Doug Liman, and Joseph Kosinski for the box office hit, Top Gun: Maverick.

Now, with Cruise returning to more character-driven roles in auteur films, he’s still planning to work with legendary Academy Award winning film makers. He’s starting with Tarantino and González Iñárritu, but the opportunities are endless. It’s great to see.