Tom Cruise is ‘very serious’ about making a Tropic Thunder spin-off, Christopher McQuarrie says

Tom Cruise is having “very serious conversations” with Christopher McQuarrie about making a Les Grossman ‘Tropic Thunder’ spin-off movie.

The 62-year-old actor portrayed the foul-mouthed producer in Ben Stiller’s 2008 satirical action film, and McQuarrie - who has reportedly been attached to the project since 2022 - has said Cruise is determined to continue Les Grossman’s story in his own movie.

During an appearance on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast, the ‘Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning’ director said: “The conversations we’ve had about Les Grossman are so f****** funny.

“We’re talking about it, we’re having very serious conversations about it, and how best to do it.

“It ultimately comes down to what that character is.”

McQuarrie, 56, added he and Cruise used to bounce ideas off each other for the possible flick during the production of ‘Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning’.

He said: “We don’t even think about the structure, we play with scenes. Just to be sitting at a breakfast table, not talking about the movie we’re making for a minute, is such decompression.

“And just riffing with Tom playing Les Grossman at the table, it was one of the real joys of making this movie. It was all the stuff we were doing, planning the future while slugging out the present.”

Talk about a Les Grossman spin-off has been going on for years, with Stiller - who directed and starred in ‘Tropic Thunder’ as actor Tugg Speedman - previously revealing he had “discussed” the idea with Cruise.

During an interview with Extra, Stiller, 59, said: “There have been some interchanges about it over the years, yeah.

“Look, Tom Cruise - one of my favorite human beings, one of our great movie stars of all time — it would be fun, but there is nothing in the works. But we have discussed it in the past.”


‘Tropic Thunder’ - which also stars Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black and Steve Coogan - follows a group of pampered actors filming a war movie in the jungle who are thrust into real danger when they’re mistaken for actual soldiers.

As chaos unfolds, they must become the heroes they only pretended to be.

Reflecting on the movie, Stiller admitted ‘Tropic Thunder’ likely wouldn’t make it past the “script phase” now due to its controversial elements.

He said: “Somebody should be making movies that are that out-there. If it is clear where the joke is, and it is clear what your point of view is, you have to take those chances … I think comedy is going to get there.”

The ‘Zoolander’ star added Downey Jr.’s Kirk Lazarus - a white actor who undergoes “pigmentation alteration” surgery to temporarily darken his skin for his portrayal of the black character - was a particular aspect of ’Tropic Thunder’ that would likely sink any chances of making the movie today.

He told Collider: “Yeah, the idea of Robert playing that character who's playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey. Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too.

“The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on — actors trying to do anything to win awards.

“But now, in this environment, I don't even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I‘m being honest.”