Tom Cruise is on the verge of getting fired yet again as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer CEO Harry Sloan looks to bring Cruise’s United Artists studio under the control of MGM production chief Mary Parent, sources told The Post.
The move comes as Sloan reaches the conclusion that Cruise and business partner Paula Wagner, who own 30 percent of UA, “don’t know what they are doing,” several sources close to MGM or inside its investor group said.
“Harry made a mistake in backing those two, and now he’s trying to figure out how to rectify it,” one source said.
Indeed, Cruise and Wagner, who were kicked off the Paramount lot in 2006 by Sumner Redstone, have suffered both box-office failure with “Lions for Lambs” and a public-relations debacle that has engulfed the upcoming “Valkyrie.”
Most recently, Cruise was replaced by a younger Angelina Jolie as the star of an upcoming spy thriller that had been named “Edwin A. Salt.”
If Sloan effectively neuters Cruise and Wagner by putting Parent – a well-regarded Hollywood talent who MGM hired in March to oversee theatrical productions – in charge of UA, sources said Wagner would likely leave in protest.
“Her ego won’t stand for that, she’d be humiliated if she stayed there,” said a second source close to UA.
Sources said Sloan is likely to extend a production deal to Wagner to soothe her ruffled feathers. An MGM spokesman said only that UA would “continue to operate as an independent company” and that the “current management structure for UA has not changed. Tom and Paula are still running the day-to-day operations.”
In putting UA under Parent, Sloan hopes to gain access to the $500 million in financing that UA raised from Merrill Lynch last year so that he can help fund MGM movies.
MGM has been trying to raise its own film financing fund since last year as well, but has had little success.
However, sources said the studio is close to a deal with Relativity Media for upward of $500 million in funding.
“From the moment [Tom and Paula] got their money, Sloan has been desperately trying to get his hands on it,” said a third source close to MGM and UA.
The contracts stipulate that the loan can only be drawn down to finance films greenlighted by Cruise or Wagner.
And the loan isn’t even for $500 million. Rather, as a revolving credit facility, UA has to replenish what has already been used before more can be taken out.
Sources said Sloan, who recently re-upped with MGM for another three years, is currently in talks with Merrill Lynch to see if the loan can be restructured to allow Parent access.
“The whole point for providing the financing was because of Tom’s name,” said a source involved in the funding. “It is not going to be easy for them to turn around and give it to Harry.”