Les Grossman might be coming back, and not just for a cameo. Yes, the sweaty, bald, profanity-spewing studio boss Tom Cruise played in 2008. And the real-life drama that likely inspired him? Still wild.
So, is a Les Grossman movie actually happening?
Christopher McQuarrie says he and Cruise have been talking about a standalone Les Grossman film. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2025, McQuarrie said their back-and-forth on the idea has been very funny, and also surprisingly legit.
"We are having very serious conversations about it."
That is not nothing. If Cruise is on board and McQuarrie is saying it out loud, there is real smoke here.
Why Les Grossman hit a nerve back in 2008
In Tropic Thunder, Cruise hid under a full prosthetic makeover — fat suit, bald cap, the works — to play Les Grossman, a brutal, foul-mouthed Hollywood producer who screams his way through the movie and then dances like his life depends on it. It was instantly memorable. It was also widely read as Cruise taking a very pointed shot at billionaire mogul Sumner Redstone, who had publicly embarrassed him a couple of years earlier (as recounted by Far Out Magazine).
Quick rewind: by the mid-2000s, Cruise was still one of Paramount's biggest stars, but his public image was in free fall. The Oprah couch jump. Pulling Katie Holmes onstage while he declared his love, with her looking like she wanted to be anywhere else. Heated takes on psychiatry and high-profile support for Scientology. The whole thing turned into a media circus.
For Sumner Redstone — then the powerful boss of Viacom, Paramount's parent company — the bad press was more than he was willing to stomach. He publicly cut ties with Cruise, saying the behavior was embarrassing the studio and costing money, and even claimed that his wife and women everywhere had turned against the actor. Translation: a media titan just called the world's biggest movie star toxic.
Cruise's counterpunch: play the tyrant, then rebuild the brand
Instead of firing back, Cruise did something smarter: he turned the whole mess into fuel. He leaned into the idea of a monstrous Tinseltown overlord and delivered Les Grossman — a character he has never officially said was based on Redstone, but come on, the parallels are hard to miss.
After that low point, he quietly re-engineered his public persona. Personal life: off-limits. Interviews: strictly about movies, stunts, and craft. The brand became one thing and one thing only — show up and deliver bangers.
Tropic Thunder refresher
- Release: 2008
- Genre: satirical action comedy
- Director: Ben Stiller
- Cast highlights: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise, Steve Coogan
- Rotten Tomatoes: 82% critics, 72% audience
- Streaming (US): Paramount+
Was Les Grossman a stealth roast of Redstone or just Cruise going nuclear on a bit? Either way, if McQuarrie and Cruise actually lock this in, we might be staring down two hours of that dancing, screaming executive energy — and honestly, I get why they are tempted.