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Waiting for Katie: Holmes' 'Mad' Movie

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Fox News
by Roger Friedman
1/3/08

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The continuing saga of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ movie careers gets another chapter next week when "Mad Money" premieres in Hollywood. Has the marriage made them bigger stars or just more targeted tabloid fodder?

First, Cruise’s "Lions for Lambs" came out and stiffed. Over this past weekend, that film averaged a paltry $3,000 a day at the box office. It’s still playing in about 30 theaters around the country as it concludes eight woebegone weeks in release.

But what of Holmes? Before she met Cruise, she had a promising film career. She followed her "Dawson’s Creek" TV hit with impressive performances in the indie flick "Pieces of April" and the box office smash "Batman Begins."

Just as she and Cruise crossed paths, though, Holmes appeared in Jason Reitman’s excellent "Thank You for Smoking." Controversy erupted, however, when her sex scene was severely edited, prompting cries that her new boyfriend had ordered changes to the film. Cruise denied making any changes.

Now, Holmes comes to us in her first post-Suri movie, "Mad Money." Directed by "Thelma and Louise" writer Callie Khouri, "Mad Money" is a female heist film with Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah as Holmes’ cohorts.

Interestingly, "Mad Money" isn’t being released by a major studio. It’s a partnership between the fledgling Overture Pictures (run by the estimable Chris McGurk) and Starz Cable.

So far, the buzz on "Mad Money" is mixed. But with Keaton and Latifah, Holmes has a lot of support. Of course, the title isn’t helping. Pseudo-biz whiz Jim Cramer hosts a cable show called "Mad Money," and "Sopranos" writer Matthew Weiner has a hit show called "Made Men." Then, again, there’s "Mad TV," which, I hope, will not be doing a parody of "Mad Money" in the near future.

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