Tom Cruise helped ‘Tár’ director save debut film from Harvey Weinstein

16 January, 2023

Tom Cruise Wimbledon

Tár director Todd Field has recalled how actor Tom Cruise helped to save his debut film from Harvey Weinstein.

Field knew Cruise from the time they starred together in Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 film, Eyes Wide Shut and sought out advice from his former co-star after his debut film was acquired by Weinstein’s company Miramax.

In a new interview, Field revealed how Cruise helped to save his debut film, In The Bedroom, from significant interference from Weinstein, who has since been convicted for multiple counts of rape and sexual assault.

Speaking to The New Yorker, Field said he was concerned about Weinstein’s reputation for imposing multiple edits on films distributed by his company and feared his film might be subjected to similar.

“I was weeping in the bathroom,” Field explained. “I called up Tom Cruise and said, ‘Something terrible has happened.’

“He basically said, ‘This is how you’re going to play it. It’s going to take you six months, and you’ll beat him, but you have to do exactly what I’m going to tell you to do, step by step.’”

Field explained that Cruise told him to go along with all of Weinstein’s suggestions initially and then, when the film would test poorly with preview screenings, Cruise advised to remind Miramax of the film’s festival acclaim – something that would likely return them to using the original cut.

Cruise’s advice paid off with this happening. The film earned more than 25 times its budget and garnered five Oscar nominations.

Meanwhile, Weinstein’s sentencing in his recent rape trial is set to be delayed until February.

A Los Angeles jury convicted Weinstein on three counts of rape and sexual assault against one woman last month, while remaining divided on allegations relating to three other accusers.

The verdict was reached after more than nine days of deliberation during Weinstein’s month-long trial, which detailed multiple allegations of sexual assault against the disgraced producer within the state of California. Jurors convicted Weinstein of the rape and sexual assault of one woman, a European model and actor who was referred to anonymously as ‘Jane Doe 1’.

Weinstein faces up to 24 years in prison when sentenced on the convicted counts of rape and sexual assault. That sentence is on top of the 23-year sentence Weinstein is already serving for similar crimes in New York, following the producer’s rape conviction within that state in 2020. While that New York jury found Weinstein guilty of third-degree rape, they likewise acquitted him of additional charges relating to predatory sexual assault.

After defence lawyers called for a new trial, the sentencing has now been delayed until February, with Los Angeles superior court judge Lisa Lench saying yesterday (January 9) that she expects sentencing to be carried out on February 23 unless the motion for a new trial is successful.