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Tom Cruise and Warner Bros Discovery Team Up for Films Deal

FILE PHOTO: US actor Tom Cruise poses for photographers at a British screening of the film "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation" in London, Britain July 25, 2015. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US actor Tom Cruise poses for photographers at a British screening of the film "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation" in London, Britain July 25, 2015. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo
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Tom Cruise and Warner Bros Discovery Team Up for Films Deal

FILE PHOTO: US actor Tom Cruise poses for photographers at a British screening of the film "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation" in London, Britain July 25, 2015. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US actor Tom Cruise poses for photographers at a British screening of the film "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation" in London, Britain July 25, 2015. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo

Warner Bros Discovery said on Tuesday it had struck a deal with Tom Cruise, one of Hollywood's most bankable actors, to develop and produce original and franchise theatrical films in 2024.
The film partnership with Cruise marks a coup for Warner Bros Motion Picture Group's co-chairs, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, and fulfills CEO David Zaslav's oft-stated desire to work with top talent behind the camera and in front of the camera, Reuters reported.
"Inking a deal with arguably the biggest movie star in the world, Tom Cruise, is hugely significant," said Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
"Talent attracts talent and every studio touts their formal arrangements with high-profile filmmakers and stars so as to signify to the world their commitment to these highly coveted creatives."
Cruise, who played a leading role in such films as "Top Gun,The Last Samurai" and the "Mission: Impossible" series, and will occupy an office on the Warner Bros Discovery lot in Burbank, as have stars such as Clint Eastwood and Frank Sinatra.
Across his five-decade career, Cruise's movies have earned more than $12 billion globally, with the 2022 release of "Top Gun: Maverick," grossing nearly $1.5 billion, according to measurement firm Comscore. His most recent film, "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning Part One" brought in a more earthbound $568 million in worldwide box office proceeds.
The arrangement with Warner Bros is non-exclusive, with Cruise working on the next installment in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise for Paramount Pictures, according to one source.
Warner Bros and the other major studios are working to rebound from a protracted work stoppage, as Hollywood writers and later, its actors, walked off the job in 2023.
Writers and actors from Hollywood went on strike demanding higher wages and protection against the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in filmmaking.
The dual strikes shut down a large portion of film and television production, halted late-night talk shows and forced broadcast networks to fill TV slots with repeats of reality shows.
The strikes led to a delay in Cruise's next "Mission Impossible" film as production house Paramount Global also bore the brunt of one of the longest work stoppages in the US entertainment industry history.

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Entertainment

Ailing UK Director Mike Leigh Wishes He Could Make ‘100 More Films’

English screenwriter and film director Mike Leigh attends the premiere of "Tender Loving Care" at the BFI London Film Festival 2026 in London, Britain, 15 October 2026. (EPA)
English screenwriter and film director Mike Leigh attends the premiere of "Tender Loving Care" at the BFI London Film Festival 2026 in London, Britain, 15 October 2026. (EPA)
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Ailing UK Director Mike Leigh Wishes He Could Make ‘100 More Films’

English screenwriter and film director Mike Leigh attends the premiere of "Tender Loving Care" at the BFI London Film Festival 2026 in London, Britain, 15 October 2026. (EPA)
English screenwriter and film director Mike Leigh attends the premiere of "Tender Loving Care" at the BFI London Film Festival 2026 in London, Britain, 15 October 2026. (EPA)

British filmmaker Mike Leigh told AFP Thursday he regretted he could not make "another hundred films" because of ill health, as he attended the London premiere of his prize-winning latest work.

Leigh, 83, has myositis, an autoimmune disease that affects the muscles, and now uses a walking stick.

"It's only because I have a medical condition that makes it difficult to do stuff, but otherwise I'd love to make a hundred more films," he told AFP on the red carpet at the London Film Festival ahead of the screening of his film, "Tender Loving Care".

"But it may not be possible, just from a practical point of view."

Leigh won the top prize last month at the San Sebastian film festival for the drama about social workers supporting vulnerable people, expected to be his last feature.

He won top prize at the Cannes film festival in 1996 for "Secrets and Lies" and at Venice in 2004 for "Vera Drake".

Actress Alice Bailey Johnson, one of the new film's stars, said she was "heartbroken" at the prospect that this could be the socially engaged filmmaker's final work.

"But if it is, then I can't express how honored I feel to be part of it," she told AFP before the screening.

"It's just a wonderful moment, and I will treasure it forever."

Entertainment

Bollywood Actor Imran Khan Asked to Leave India after Participating in Protest

12 October 2026, India, New Delhi: Protestors confront the police during a demonstration by members of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the All India Students' Federation (AISF) at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls. Photo: Yousuf Sarfaraz/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
12 October 2026, India, New Delhi: Protestors confront the police during a demonstration by members of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the All India Students' Federation (AISF) at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls. Photo: Yousuf Sarfaraz/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Bollywood Actor Imran Khan Asked to Leave India after Participating in Protest

12 October 2026, India, New Delhi: Protestors confront the police during a demonstration by members of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the All India Students' Federation (AISF) at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls. Photo: Yousuf Sarfaraz/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
12 October 2026, India, New Delhi: Protestors confront the police during a demonstration by members of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the All India Students' Federation (AISF) at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls. Photo: Yousuf Sarfaraz/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Indian authorities ‌have asked Bollywood actor Imran Khan to leave the country by the end of the month, saying he breached immigration laws after joining a protest against the election commission chief, local media reported on Thursday.

-Khan, 43, is a US citizen, the Indian Express newspaper reported. Under Indian law, foreigners' participation in political protests may be treated as a violation ‌of immigration and ‌visa rules.

- Khan was given ‌until ⁠October 28 to ⁠leave the country, the Times of India newspaper said

- The actor participated in a rally in Mumbai on October 10, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over voter list revisions that critics and opposition parties ⁠say favor Prime Minister Narendra ‌Modi's party

- "Apparently I’m ‌going for a drive," the actor wrote on ‌his Instagram on the same day, with ‌a picture of him posing with a victory sign in the back of what looked like a police van

- A complaint was filed against ‌him at a police station in Mumbai, saying Khan had breached the ⁠law, ⁠and the Foreigners Regional Registration Office, a federal government agency responsible for tracking and monitoring foreign nationals in India, sent him a notice to leave based on the complaint, the Indian Express said

- Khan did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters

- A nephew of actor Aamir Khan, and hailing from an illustrious film family, Imran acted in several hit Bollywood films from 2008 to 2015, before suddenly retiring.

Entertainment

Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis Gets 40 Years to Life in Prison for Orchestrating the Murder of Tupac Shakur

Duane Davis is escorted by police from a sentencing hearing after his murder conviction in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. (John Locher/Pool via Reuters)
Duane Davis is escorted by police from a sentencing hearing after his murder conviction in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. (John Locher/Pool via Reuters)
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Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis Gets 40 Years to Life in Prison for Orchestrating the Murder of Tupac Shakur

Duane Davis is escorted by police from a sentencing hearing after his murder conviction in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. (John Locher/Pool via Reuters)
Duane Davis is escorted by police from a sentencing hearing after his murder conviction in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. (John Locher/Pool via Reuters)

An aging ex-gang leader was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting of rap icon Tupac Shakur near the Las Vegas Strip.

The killing, rooted in a long-running gang feud, had gone unsolved for decades — captivating the public and tormenting Shakur’s loved ones — until Duane “Keffe D” Davis started bragging about it in interviews and a memoir.

Davis, 63, was convicted in August of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon. A former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, Davis stared blankly at Judge Carli Kierny as she imposed a penalty that, even with credit for time served, won’t see him eligible for parole until he’s at least 100.

“You don’t get to take a man from his family, you don’t get to take his very life, his whole future from him and just walk away from it, especially when that man is Tupac Shakur,” Kierny said. “The world never forgot about him and his death and neither did Las Vegas.”

Davis, whose lawyer said he will appeal his conviction, is the only person ever charged in Shakur’s death. The late rapper’s legend has only grown in the years since, and his songs continue to resonate with themes of hardship, love and Black struggles.

Tupac's family describes their loss

Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, said it was hard listening over and over again to Davis describe how he hunted and killed her brother, cutting him down at age 25, just as his popularity as a musician and actor was peaking.

Gentle and kind, Shakur was his family’s protector, she said. Had he survived injuries that included the loss of a lung, he would have left rapping behind and delved into activism, treading the path of luminaries like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., and perhaps even politics, she said.

“This man’s life mattered,” Sekyiwa Shakur said as family members cried in the audience.

Shakur’s brother, Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, said the killing has been “devastating, heartbreaking and sad” for him, his family and Shakur’s fans.

An unsolved mystery for more than two decades

Davis spoke briefly in court, telling the judge he wanted pictures and other items that police took from his house. Asked if there was anything else he wanted to say, Davis said: “No I’m good.”

Davis was charged after giving interviews and publishing a tell-all memoir in 2019 detailing what he said was his role in the infamous shooting.

On the night of Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was in the passenger seat of a black BMW with music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight when a white Cadillac pulled up at a red light. Shots erupted. Shakur was hit multiple times and died six days later, while Knight survived.

In his memoir, Davis explained he was seeking retaliation for Shakur and his entourage beating up Davis’ nephew hours before the shooting. He said he was in the passenger seat of the Cadillac and passed the gun to the backseat, where shots were fired.

Davis spoke to detectives years before but avoided prosecution because of an agreement he made with law enforcement.

During the weekslong trial, prosecutors relied on Davis’ own statements to law enforcement and documentarians. They argued Davis orchestrated the shooting and provided the gun used in Shakur’s death, which was the result of a rivalry between the South Side Compton Crips and Mob Piru.

Davis’ defense attorney pointed to a lack of physical evidence that connected his client to the 30-year-old crime, and he portrayed Davis as a liar who was trying to make money.

After nine days of hearing testimony in August, the jury deliberated for three hours before turning over the guilty verdict.

Insufficient evidence to charge anyone else

One Shakur fan, rapper Din “Lil Therapy” Malone, said justice is “halfway done” and wants to see other people charged.

“I’ve been grieving for 30 years plus,” he said at the courthouse Tuesday. “I still got a frog in my throat from crying.”

The three other people allegedly in the Cadillac with Davis have died. They included Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, whom Davis said was the one who pulled the trigger.

Another name that has come up: Sean “Diddy” Combs. Witnesses testified at Davis’ trial that the imprisoned music mogul used members of the South Side Compton Crips for security for his label, Bad Boy Records.

Davis alleged in his book and public statements that Combs offered him money to kill Shakur and Knight. Combs, who is serving a four-year prison sentence after being convicted of prostitution-related offenses, has repeatedly denied any involvement in the death of Shakur.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson has said his office doesn’t have enough evidence to charge anyone else. If more information comes to light, he said, prosecutors can always consider filing additional charges.

“While no amount of time in prison can bring Tupac back, we hope this sentencing brings some measure of closure and peace to his family after nearly 30 years,” Wolfson said in a statement. The case, he said, “is a reminder that no matter how much time passes, our commitment to seeking justice never wavers.”