Tom Cruise is one of the few actors who has demonstrated his willingness to do anything for the movies. A few months back, he allegedly attempted to accomplish this by interfering with a negotiation between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the largest union in the industry, SAG-AFTRA. At a meeting in June, the actor, 61, expressed concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) and advocated for stunt performers.
The Hollywood Reporter claimed that Cruise used Zoom to lobby AMPTP on matters such as the use of artificial intelligence and stunt performers. Thus, he urged them to take SAG-AFTRA’s concerns into consideration. He also proposed that SAG-AFTRA allow actors to promote their films during the strike to help the movie industry.
Tom Cruise Made Studios Aware Of SAG-AFTRA’s Concerns About AI
How important is the AI issue to SAG-AFTRA members? Important enough that Tom Cruise interrupted a June (2023) meeting of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to request that it take the guild’s concerns into consideration, according to reports obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
In addition to that, the Mission: Impossible actor had other concerns. The guild’s position on stunt performers was something else he wanted to implore the AMPTP to support. Cruise reportedly asked the union “to consider allowing actors to promote films during a strike given the fragile state of movie theaters” in addition to talking about the use of AI.
In June, as part of ongoing discussions, the Academy Award-winning actor met with the AMPTP. The actor pushed for regulations that would address the development of AI as well as
“To support the guild’s position on stunt performers.”
According to the THR report, SAG-AFTRA occasionally contacts prominent figures in the industry and performers to discuss a variety of issues. Any member is free to request a meeting and bring up the AMPTP during negotiations. Naturally, the report stated that Cruise was the only celebrity “of his caliber” to have “participated in the negotiations in this capacity”.
Tom Cruise Battled AI in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Tom Cruise‘s Ethan Hunt faced a villain in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One that he had never encountered before: artificial intelligence. Ethan and his IMF team were about to embark on their most hazardous mission yet: to find a terrifying new weapon before it got into the wrong hands. This was what happened in Christopher McQuarrie‘s 2023 film.
In an interview with Collider, McQuarrie explained why he believed that the threat of AI would make the ideal antagonist in a $567.5 million film. With the director comparing the threat posed by AI to that of the Cold War, the intention for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One was to capitalize on current concerns about AI:
“The thing I liken it to is the Cold War. When I was growing up, the Cold War was very real, it was a very present thing. We were under the threat, we believed, of nuclear annihilation, that at any point, there could be a war between two or three nuclear superpowers.”
Unfortunately, it might take some time before we start to feel better because McQuarrie has also stated that the sequel, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, will feature even wilder with AI fears. The upcoming spy action will be released on June 28, 2024.
You can rent Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One on Apple TV.
