But Who Gets Custody Of The Kids?

The noise generated by the nasty split between Tom Cruise and Paramount Pictures seems to have quieted in the last 24 hours...

But as is the case with any "divorce", since the love is gone, ultimately it's all about the division of assets accumulated during the union that matters now.

Michael Fleming and Chris Gardner of Variety discuss the possibilities:

The abrupt divorce of Paramount Pictures and Cruise/Wagner Prods. has not only sent shock waves through the industry but also raised questions about the future of the [production company] and its many projects at the studio.

The vociferous exchanges between [the studio] and Cruise's reps at CAA quieted down Wednesday. ...industry insiders observed that CAA also represents someone equally if not more important than Cruise -- Steven Spielberg. Paramount, of course, now owns Spielberg's company, DreamWorks.

The Spielberg angle puts even more pressure on [the studio] and CAA to devise a way to settle out the Cruise/Wagner deal. ...

As for the films, C/W had continued to dig up new projects for Paramount. They were in early talks for a fresh deal to develop a Hurricane Katrina film, made with Scott Gold, the journalist from the L.A. Times' Houston bureau who covered the disaster.

No deal has been closed for that project, giving Cruise and Wagner the option to take it to their new [production company], for which they have raised a revolving fund of $100 million.

Getting other projects they've developed at C/W for Paramount off the lot when they leave next month could be tricky, however.

A rep for [C/W] said that conversations about the fate of their Par-based pics have not yet begun. "We have not discussed what will happen with the projects. They all have separate contracts and agreements, and I'm sure they will be honored," said C/W spokeswoman Julie Polkes of Rogers & Cowan.

Negotiations could get very complicated. Several months ago, Paramount toughened its conditions for projects put into turnaround, insisting that [the studio] not only get fully reimbursed but also obtain co-production rights. The policy has frustrated producers who are trying to recover projects they'd set up under the Sherry Lansing regime.

It was during her tenure that C/W began to flourish on the Par[amount] lot. But with new top brass in place under studio chairman Brad Grey and movie stars facing a tougher studio landscape, many speculate that C/W's exit from Paramount is more about money and less about the behavior of Cruise, as cited by Redstone.

Cruise and Wagner had a notoriously rich deal with Paramount before Grey came in and began cutting costs...

Producers on the lot have groused about the studio's reluctance to let projects go into turnaround. And they cite the "brutal" terms Par imposed in allowing Lionsgate to take over the remake of Hong Kong thriller "The Eye" last month.

Paramount let C/W take it elsewhere after Renee Zellweger dropped out and instead committed to another Par thriller, "Case No. 39." Par waived its reversion rights to reclaim the project, even when Jessica Alba committed to star for directors David Moreau and Xavier Polud.

Cruise/Wagner is scheduled to make the film for Lionsgate next year.

While producers who exit first-look deals often see those projects through to production after they leave, insiders are wondering if the avalanche of other potentially lucrative C/W projects will become the kids in an ugly custody battle.

Outside of Scott Rudin -- who just completed his move to the Walt Disney Co. -- C/W was for years the most prolific buyer of books and scripts on the Paramount lot.

There is a stockpile of projects, many acquired because of their potential to become starring vehicles for Cruise...

Click here to see the list. Some of these projects sound really cool...

C/W has an inventory of projects that were originally bought for Cruise but atrophied. There are also numerous titles that will not star Cruise. It would not be surprising if Paramount was less territorial over those given its track record with C/W projects that Cruise didn't topline.

While "Ask the Dust," "Elizabethtown" and "Suspect Zero" were... misfires, C/W produced better-received titles "The Others" and "Shattered Glass."

I think both parties are looking to resolve these issues quickly and quietly...After all, the break-up itself was very noisy, and I doubt either side wants to have a prolonged "shouting match" over this stuff. I bet that Steven Spielberg is the key to how all of this ends. He's important to both sides...