LOS ANGELES:

Viacom’s Paramount Pictures has cut loose Tom Cruise, saying his erratic behaviour and religious proselytising made their mission impossible, the Wall Street Journal reported late on August 22. “As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal,” Viacom chief Sumner Redstone told WSJ. “His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount.”

Cruise, 44, kept his production company, Cruise/Wagner Productions, on the Paramount lot for 14 years.

Cruise has been known for increasingly eccentric behaviour, such as jumping on Oprah Winfrey’s studio couch as he declared his love for actress Katie Holmes.

He also promotes the Church of Scientology and publicly criticised Brooke Shields, and all anti-depressant users, spawning some unflattering parodies.

Paramount said such stunts hurt attendance at his most recent film, Mission: Impossible III. Cruise starred in Paramount hits Mission: Impossible, Top Gun and Days of Thunder.