The Tom Cruise PR machine has, yet again, moved into damage control. Variety has managed to score a few ambiguous statements from the Poison Dwarf himself.

The Cruise on whether he is concerned about the MGM & UA shakeup in process:

I LOVE Paula Wagner but she wants to produce elsewhere and in her own venue and I don’t intend to stand in her way. I’ll say this of her leaving United Artists — whatever Paula wants is what I want her to have! And I hope we’ll continue working together on future projects.” So spoke Tom Cruise on the phone with me this week. He added, cryptically: “I don’t run United Artists; I just own it.

That’s a pretty damn confident statement for someone who has only ever possessed minority stake in UA. It also might explain why jack shit has been produced by UA during the Cruise/Wagner era.

The Cruise on why Valkyrie has received such bad buzz:

It just doesn’t make sense to me either. The moment I read the screenplay I knew it was an important story and as it’s a true tale of heroic resistance to one of the great villains of history, I can’t imagine that people won’t want to see it.

Actually, Tom, it’s not the heroic tale that people don’t want to see. It’s just you.