Peter Bart: Will moviegoers embrace Tom Cruise as a billionaire savior in a turbulent world?

According to the CinemaDrame News Agency, Tom Cruise’s next film is a comedy about the most powerful man in the world who decides to become humanity’s savior. Even his most devoted fans may question how such a character will be received by audiences in today’s more politically and socially charged climate—audiences that may be more drawn to traditional revenge-driven films.

The Top Gun star has made a number of unexpected choices throughout his career (including films such as Magnolia and Valkyrie). However, at a time when the U.S. economy is facing a severe wealth gap, the question arises as to whether a more angry, “victim-centered” hero might connect more quickly with audiences.

To what extent does the “mood of the times” determine the fate of Hollywood films? This issue was also raised at CinemaCon, where Cruise spoke to an admiring crowd about his new project, The Digger’s Tale.

One veteran distributor believes the widening gap between rich and poor has fueled social anger, and that cinema has not been very successful in reflecting this reality—whereas Hollywood in the past was more adept at tapping into such sentiments.

In the 1960s, movie marketing featured both violent revenge films like Bonnie and Clyde and family-friendly fantasy films like Mary Poppins. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, audiences gravitated toward gangster films such as The Public Enemy, Little Caesar, and Scarface—stories in which criminals clashed with the establishment.

These films, made before the full enforcement of Hollywood censorship rules, were both box office successes and contenders at the Academy Awards. Later, socially conscious films like The Grapes of Wrath also performed strongly alongside studio musicals.

In the early 1960s, Hollywood faced competition from television, and many weaker films failed. During this period, even the Academy Award for Best Picture went to The Sound of Music, despite other more serious contenders. Even stars like Elvis Presley turned to lighter films to sustain their careers.

Tom Cruise has consistently been an actor who moves across genres. He has had major successes such as the Mission: Impossible franchise, as well as less successful projects. However, his global success was cemented by Top Gun.

His new film, The Digger’s Tale, is described as a “catastrophe-scale comedy” and is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, a filmmaker known for bold and unconventional works.

The question remains whether such a film can resonate with audiences in today’s tense social and economic climate—and whether a character like The Digger’s Tale even has a place in contemporary mainstream taste.