Tom Cruise not doing stunts? Alejandro González Iñárritu directing a “brutal comedy”? The man behind The Revenant just dropped these bombshells at Cannes—and Hollywood's already losing its mind.
Why This Changes Everything (Or Nothing)
This isn't Mission: Impossible meets Birdman—it's something weirder. Iñárritu's Judy (working title) is a “wild comedy of human nature” with Cruise leading an A-list ensemble (Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons, John Goodman, and Riz Ahmed). The twist? No stuntwork. Just Cruise flexing untapped comedic chops in what Iñárritu calls “insane” and “scary and funny.”
Budget? Unknown. Tone? “Like if Charlie Kaufman remade The Revenant as a deranged sitcom.” And with Birdman scribes co-writing, expect meta-layers galore.
The Hidden Story
Iñárritu hasn't made a flat-out comedy since… ever. His last film, Bardo, polarized critics, but Judy could be his pivot into uncharted territory. The wildcard? Emmanuel Lubezki's return as DP (The Revenant, Birdman). Imagine those long takes—but for punchlines.
Historical precedent? Tropic Thunder proved Cruise could steal a comedy. But this? It's Tropic Thunder meets Synecdoche, New York—with Iñárritu's existential dread swapped for “catastrophic” laughs.
Now Pick a Side
Genius or garbage? A Cruise-Iñárritu collab with no stunts is either a masterpiece or a $200M prank. Fight in the comments.