Tom Cruise’s Les Grossman Spinoff Is Back in Play — 17 Years After Tropic Thunder
Tropic Thunder crashed into theaters in 2008 and shook Hollywood. Tom Cruise’s short-fused, expletive-laced studio boss Les Grossman stole the show—so much that a 2010 spinoff was announced, then disappeared.
Seventeen years after Tropic Thunder hit and Tom Cruise stole the movie with a bald cap, a dance routine, and a volcanic temper, the Les Grossman spinoff is somehow still alive. Not greenlit, not shooting... but not dead either.
Yep, Les Grossman is still in play
Justin Theroux, who co-wrote Tropic Thunder, says the long-rumored Les Grossman movie is actually still in development. It has been kicking around for ages, and while the 2010 spinoff announcement went nowhere, the idea hasn't been shelved.
"This has been something that has been kicked around in theory and in reality, and there's been a couple of attempts at points of entry. But I think we all look forward to hopefully making that happen."
"That would be great, and I have some ideas for it, and some of those ideas have been expressed, but I can't really give you any other update that there's nothing currently. There's no start date or anything."
Translation: it's real, people are talking, but there's no schedule. Still, the fact Theroux is even bothering to give an update after a decade and a half is a pretty good sign the project keeps inching forward behind the scenes.
The Cruise/McQuarrie piece of the puzzle
Back in 2022, Deadline reported that Tom Cruise and his frequent collaborator Christopher McQuarrie were in talks to steer a Les Grossman project. That chatter bubbled up around the time Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One was ramping up. Cruise and McQuarrie have a long track record together across the Mission films, Jack Reacher, and Edge of Tomorrow, which is why fans perked up at the idea of them taking a swing at a full-on Grossman movie.
For clarity: the next Mission: Impossible is still coming with McQuarrie and Cruise; the franchise has not wrapped. But their creative partnership is exactly why a Grossman spinoff feels like it could actually happen if everyone's calendars line up.
Why now might be the perfect moment
Les Grossman worked in 2008 because he was an unfiltered, raging, foul-mouthed caricature of the studio boss from hell. He was also brutally honest about how the sausage gets made. Fast-forward to today: streaming is king, consolidation rumors never stop, and every release sparks a culture scuffle. If there was ever a moment to drop that character back into the room and let him unload on the current state of the business, it's right now.
Tropic Thunder roasted Hollywood, method acting, and the self-importance of the whole machine. A Grossman spinoff could do the same for the streaming era. Slightly late to the party? Sure. Still very doable if the jokes are sharp and the target list is current.
A quick refresher on Tropic Thunder
- Directed by: Ben Stiller
- Cast: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black (plus Tom Cruise as Les Grossman)
- Release date: August 13, 2008
- IMDb: 7.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
- Worldwide box office: $195 million
- Produced by: DreamWorks Pictures
- Where to watch (US): Paramount+
Bottom line: Les Grossman isn't just a one-off bit we all misremembered. The spinoff has been quietly circling for years, Theroux says it's still in development, and Cruise/McQuarrie have kicked the tires before. No dates, no cameras, no studio hype... yet. But the door's open.
Would you actually want a full-on Les Grossman movie in 2025? Or is he better as the chaos agent who crashes the party for 10 minutes and steals the show?