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Tom Cruise is confident David Ellison will deliver on his promise of 30 films a year from a combined Paramount and Warner Bros.

“I think it’s awesome,” Cruise told “The Pat McAfee Show.” “You know, here’s the thing. They’re going to deliver 30 movies. It’s a community to me. It’s not an industry. The people in these studios are not just people in the studios. They’re my family. I know we’re going to get those 30 movies. I want us all to come together as a community to help make those 30 movies. It’s not just going to be, you know, Paramount doing it. Everyone’s going to need all the help of every artist to be able to do it.”

He continued, “We do well with those, those 30 movies are going to turn into 40 movies. To have that window and what it means — it’s not good enough that I just get to make [‘Days of Thunder 2’]. I see so many talented people that I want them to have that opportunity to make the films that they want … Like you can have these artists, all these greats, they got to cut their teeth and learn in the same way that you get to act, and you’re learning. It’s you take it and the next one and the next one. Every single one of them. The Iñárritus, the Spielbergs, the Nolans, me — all the opportunities that I’ve had, I want that for every writer, every director, every producer, every artist. And the only way you do it is we have to create an abundance. Its production begets production.”

Ellison, in trying to rally industry support behind the Paramount-Warner Bros. megamerger, has on multiple occasions claimed the combined studios will release an unprecedented 30-plus films a year. He recently pledged to AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas that Paramount would contractually guarantee an annual 30-movie theatrical slate with 45-day windows.

Cruise is a longtime Ellison friend and ally, as Skydance Media backed the “Mission: Impossible” franchise and “Top Gun: Maverick” as a co-producer. Cruise also has a first-look production deal at Warner Bros.

Cruise went on to highlight the success of the summer 2026 box office, shouting out hits like “Obsession,” “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” He asserted that the only way the industry can produce hits like those is through an increase in production and allowing the next generation of filmmakers to get up to “game speed.”

“When you’re making a movie, every day is game day,” Cruise said. “If we come together as a community [we can] understand what audiences want and tell our stories that you want to tell.”

Cruise emphasized several times throughout the interview that turning Hollywood around is a “community” effort. He added that “making movies isn’t competitive” and that “the more films we make, the better it’s going to be” for a theater business that is just now getting back on its feet.

“I remember in the ’80s, ’90s, 2000s, you’d have five films opening on the weekend, and people [went] to the movie theaters,” Cruise recalled. “You see how audiences are enjoying that experience, but we got to make them … And we have to as a community. We’ve got to help each other to do it.”

Cruise has long made a home at Paramount, which released all eight films in his marquee “Mission: Impossible” franchise. His other collaborations with Paramount include the “Top Gun” movies, “The Firm,” “Vanilla Sky,” “Collateral,” “War of the Worlds,” “Jack Reacher,” and “Days of Thunder,” which is getting a sequel in 2028. Cruise, never shy about the affiliation, climbed the Paramount water tower for the studio’s CinemaCon 2025 presentation featurette.

The Paramount-Warner Bros. merger is held up by a 12-stare antitrust lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta. The states allege the $111 billion deal would hurt competition in the theater business and in basic cable. Ellison and the Paramount Skydance team have the U.S.’s three largest theater chains, AMC, Regal and Cinemark, backing their case. Now, they have the world’s biggest movie star on their side. The states aren’t without support, however. More than 5,600 Hollywood mainstays have now signed an open letter organized by the #BlockTheMerger coalition opposing the deal between the two legacy studios. The WGA also has filed an antitrust suit seeking to block the Paramount-WBD deal.