It’s been 17 years since movie screens were graced with the presence of “Tropic Thunder.” The Ben Stiller written and directed film starred Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr.. It also introduced us to one of the best random characters in film history in the form of Les Grossman, played by Tom Cruise. There have been talks over the years of Grossman coming back In another project, and we’re happy to tell you those talks have not gone away.
Les Grossman was a standout character in a film that was full of standout characters. Through the use of costuming and makeup, Cruise turned himself into a balding, overweight, hairy man who also happens to be a studio executive with a tremendously terrifying temper. You may not even have realized it was Cruise playing him until the end credits. Without exaggeration, he steals every scene he’s in and punctuates everything by dancing during the end credits.
Cruise was reportedly working with “Top Gun: Maverick” writer and “Mission Impossible” director Christopher McQuarrie about a Les Grossman movie in 2022. Three years later and the two stars are still talking about it.
“The conversations we’ve had about Les Grossman are so fucking funny. …We’re having very serious conversations about it, and how best to do it,” McQuarrie said. “It ultimately comes down to what that character is.”
“Just to be sitting at a breakfast table, not talking about the movie we’re making for a minute, is such decompression,” McQ continued. “And just riffing with Tom playing Les Grossman at the table, it was one of the real joys of making this movie. It was all the stuff we were doing, planning the future while slugging out the present.”
As you can probably tell from the vagueness and lack of detail, any potential project is still a ways off. Fortunately, because of all the makeup used to get into that character, it would be hard to say that Cruise is going to be too old to play him. And unless you count those sweet dance moves, there won’t be a lot of stunt work involved. The audience for a Grossman movie is there gentleman, and you don’t have to wait for a binding UN resolution to start making it!
