The NYT has some bad news for people wanting to do business with part-time movie star/full-time Scientology evangelist Tom Cruise: any deal you hope to make may include a "voluntary" tour of the Hubbard mothership or its satellites:

Increasingly public about his long association with Scientology, Mr. Cruise a few weeks ago invited film executives involved in distributing his summer movie, "The War of the Worlds," on a four-hour tour of three different Scientology facilities in Los Angeles. About 20 managers from United International Pictures, which is distributing the Steven Spielberg-directed film abroad for Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks SKG, took him up on the offer in late January.

Here are a couple of tips for film executives who might be apprehensive about their completely non-compulsory tour of the Scientology facilities: Use an alias of a studio rival if Cruise "suggests" that you sign up for a further informational session, and if you happen to walk in on John Travolta while he's having a newer, more bloated head installed, just avert your eyes, smile politely, and back out of the room.

• Tom Cruise Mixing Business and Church [NYT]


• Tom Cruise Keeps On Giving [Defamer]

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