Scientology documentary expected to weaken Tom Cruise’s film career

Scientology documentary expected to weaken Tom Cruise’s film career

Cruise and crew worry that backlash from Scientology documentary will affect box office sales for "Rogue Nation"

With the newest addition to the Mission: Impossible franchise- Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation – set to be a summer blockbuster, producer, Brad Bird and leading actor, Tom Cruise, fear that the widely discussed Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief release might overshadow the conversation around the premier.

Since Going Clear premiered with mammoth ratings on HBO on March 29, the topic of Scientology has been analyzed and criticized in almost every outlet from The Gaurdian to Entertainment Weekly. The documentary, directed by Alex Gibney and based on Pulitzer Prize winner, Lawrence Wright’s 2013 book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief.

The documentary follows the interview of 8 former Scientology members and uses old footage and dramatic reconstructions to tell the story of how they got into Scientology, give more insight into the founding of the beliefs and lastly expose the corruption and abuse of Scientology’s members. The makers of the film claim that Scientologists should be free to believe but they want the  Church of Scientology’s celebrity influencers– specifically Tom Cruise and John Travolta– to speak out about the injustice and abuse.

“There aren’t very many alternatives and law enforcement agencies are stymied,” Wright to the Associated Press. “What’s left is for journalists to call attention to what’s going on and at least inform people. We certainly are singling out some celebrities because they bear a moral responsibility and we’re making certain that they have to recognize that.”

While Cruise has yet to comment, Travolta broke his silence about the film in April. When asked if he had seen the film Travolta said, “No, I haven’t, and I don’t really care to.”

“I’ve been so happy with my experience in the last 40 years that I really don’t have anything to say that would shed light on [a documentary] so decidedly negative,” Travolta shared. “”I haven’t experienced anything that the hearsay has [claimed], so why would I communicate something that wasn’t true for me? It wouldn’t make sense, nor would it for Tom, I imagine. I’ve been brought through storms that were insurmountable, and [Scientology has] been so beautiful for me, that I can’t even imagine attacking it.”

The Church of Scientology responded to the film saying that all of the allegations made in the film are “absolutely false and rejected” and claims that all of the testimony in the film is from “bitter, vengeful apostates.”

Cruise and his representatives declined to comment for the Associated Press article.

When the trailer for Rogue Nation premiered many were too stunned by the incredible stunts performed by Cruise to question him on his Scientology beliefs. The trailer, which premiered in March at Cinema Con, features Cruise hanging on to the side of an Airbus A400M while over 5,000 feet in the air. Fans were even more stunned to learn that this stunt was not CGI but that cruise actually hung off the plane with no protective gear except lenses to protect his eyes from debris  and high winds.

While many believe that if Cruise continues to make great movies his Scientology faith won’t affect his career, there are others who warn that Cruise is at a moral crossroads.

“The documentary is going to have an impact on Mission: Impossible when it comes out,” Jseetendr Sehdev, celebrity branding expert and professor at USC, shared with the AP. “Audiences are looking for transparency and authenticity in their celebrities more than ever before.”

However, Amy Nicholson, who penned Tom Cruise: Anatomy of an Actor, disagrees saying that “it’s unfair that we obsess over this religion and this church when he obviously believes it very much.”

It is almost certain that Tom Cruise will receive questions about Going Clear while promoting Rogue Nation, but it is unclear weather the documentary will affect box office sales.

Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation will premiere on July 1,2015.

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