Reports that Tom Cruise is leaving The Church of Scientology fall flat as the star is set to launch a Scientology TV network, likened to CNN, and film company in a new $50 million dollar studio. The studio, Scientology Media Productions—set to be located on Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard—is set to rival Paramount studios.
The studio will be the site of Scientology ads, news broadcasts, documentaries, in addition to a site where Cruise can shoot his films, given the studio’s proximity to his home.
The church’s Facebook page posted about the new studio saying,
The Daily Mail speculates the church may even hold auditions for Cruise’s new girlfriend at the studios. As you’ll recall his ex-wife Katie Holmes allegedly auditioned amongst a slew of actresses like Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Alba in order to be his girlfriend.
According to Scientology expert Tony Ortega, who runs an anti-scientology site, Scientology has been involved in several of Cruise’s movies by pressuring movie execs, including last year’s Edge of Tomorrow.
The movie studio would certainly give Cruise and the church the leverage to have a bigger hand in influencing these movies, especially when they have $450 million and $8 billion to back them up respectively.
Here's what the studio is projected to look like, via photos from Scientology's Facebook page.
[via Daily Mail]