STEVEN SPIELBERG - REDSTONE HAS NICE WORDS FOR SPIELBERG, CRUISE

REDSTONE HAS NICE WORDS FOR SPIELBERG, CRUISE

Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone says that if Steven Spielberg and David Geffen leave Paramount at the end of the year, as reports have indicated, Viacom will continue to own all of the DreamWorks library. Moreover, Redstone said in a CNBC interview, "all of their work in progress belongs to us." So that if Spielberg wants to make any of those films, he'll have to make them for Viacom. "Spielberg will be making pictures using that product, which belongs to us, I believe for years to come," Redstone said. "We're all friends." Redstone also indicated that he's patching things up with Tom Cruise, who he suggested may not be happy trying to fulfill multiple jobs as an actor, producer, and the head of United Artists. Redstone booted Cruise off the Paramount lot two years ago as punishment for the actor's controversial behavior on the Oprah Winfrey program and his advocacy of Scientology on other programs while promoting Mission Impossible III. But Redstone now says, "I still like Tom. I still think he's a great actor. He had lunch with me. It's clear he wants to come back."

22/07/2008