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Tom Cruise here for 'Jack Reacher' showing
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Tom Cruise films "Jack Reacher" in Downtown Pittsburgh in 2011.
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Tom Cruise plans to return to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to show "Jack Reacher" for the "fans in the city that so graciously hosted the production of the film," Paramount Pictures said in a brief statement Monday afternoon.
However, there will be no red carpet during this time of mourning following the Connecticut school shooting. "The filmmakers and Tom Cruise convey their heartfelt sadness and their deep condolences to the families during this time," Paramount said.
Wednesday's event at the SouthSide Works Cinema will be for previously confirmed guests, and more information is to be released before then.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York postponed a Monday night fundraiser with Mr. Cruise to benefit its 50th anniversary fund supporting K-12 education and new artist programs. The change was made "out of respect for the families who lost loved ones in Newtown, Conn.," an announcement on the center's website said.
Late Friday night, Paramount announced it was postponing the U.S. premiere of the movie scheduled for Saturday on the South Side. The opening scene of a sniper taking five lives outside PNC Park made the idea of a splashy event particularly insensitive.
Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie told TheWrap.com that he and Mr. Cruise supported the decision to scrap Saturday's activities, which were to have included time to greet fans lining barricades, a proclamation ceremony and red carpet before a 2 p.m. screening.
"Tom and I insisted upon it. Nobody should be celebrating anything 24 hours after a tragic event like that. ... This was not a snap judgment, because we wanted to give back to the city of Pittsburgh, because they were so great to us."
Asked by the website how the movie might be received in wake of the massacre, the director who adapted Lee Child's novel said:
"It may have an impact, and it may not. I can't concern myself with that, not when other people have so many bigger problems than whatever worries I have about opening a movie I've been working on for two years.
"It just seems trivial compared to the devastation that people are feeling. Whatever happens, I can't worry about how it affects me personally, because I get to go home to my children."
Mr. Cruise also is a father. His youngest of three children just started first grade.
First Published December 18, 2012 12:00 am
