21st Century Joan

So I heard the news today. Tom Cruise dumped by Paramount. Now, I don't pretend to understand all the particulars about this, but I really and honestly thought that the days where a movie star was the "property" of a single studio had gone the way of the dodo bird. In the music industry, it's slightly different (at least for now) where a person signs with a particular label, but movie stars? I pretty much thought they were free agents, able to work with whichever studio they wanted.

Jeff, Heidi and I were talking about this on the phone tonight. We wanted to know if Tom went home and cut down all the rose bushes in the garden after being dropped by Paramount. Did the head of Paramount have his trailer cleaned out already? Did they cite "creative differences?" And perhaps most importantly, was the line "SURI! Bring me the axe!" uttered at the Cruise/Holmes household tonight?

If only Joan were here, he could possibly offer some wise counsel to poor Tom. I can just hear her now.