The only band ever to be fired by Tom Cruise: “There was a wholesale swap”
There comes a point in some actors’ careers when they get so big that they amass a striking amount of power, taking on behind-the-scenes roles as well as those in front of the camera. Tom Cruise has long had this overwhelming authority over Hollywood, his star power so large that if you wind up involved in a production with him, you should know that he’s always going to have the final say.
Cruise rose to acclaim back in the 1980s, his role in Top Gun significantly bolstering his success and allowing him to ascend the ranks of Hollywood. He took on blockbuster after blockbuster like it was no big deal, although he has always found time for a little more challenging projects, like the erotic Stanley Kubrick drama Eyes Wide Shut or Paul Thomas Anderson’s slightly confusing Magnolia.
Still, he has always retained the appearance of a Hollywood heavyweight, attracted to action flicks and franchises that keep his name firmly in the spotlight, as seen by his long-running tenure in the Mission: Impossible series, and in 2022, he returned to his roots, reprising his role as Pete Mitchell in the sequel Top Gun: Maverick, which was a mega-hit, grossing over $1billion.
He co-produced the film, and in the process, fired a band who were incredibly excited to be part of the soundtrack, or so they claimed; at least they can say that they were fired by the one and only Tom Cruise. However, you can hardly blame Cruise for firing the band initially signed on to work on the soundtrack, because that band was Twenty One Pilots.
Now, I’m not here to just chat shit about Twenty One Pilots, but they’re not exactly the height of sophistication. Their song ‘Car Radio’ was a big track for Tumblr-loving emos back in the day, which is enough of a description to put you off. Tracks like ‘Stressed Out’ and ‘Heathens’ were massive back in the mid-2010s, with the latter even appearing on the Suicide Squad soundtrack, but above anything, they’re incredibly cringe-inducing. It’s no wonder Cruise was keen to have them as far away from his film as possible, not that Top Gun: Maverick is exactly on the level of a Kubrick film, but still.
Talking to KROQ, the musical duo revealed their firing, with Tyler Joseph explaining in 2022, “I was working with the music placement person for the new Top Gun on writing a new song for them, and then I believe Tom Cruise came in and just fired everyone.”
He added, “You’ve seen that new Top Gun thing that he’s got? The trailer has been out for, like, three years, so there’s been a few overhauls, and I was a part of that, so they moved on.”
According to Entertainment Weekly, a source involved with the movie’s production denied these claims, although Joseph is adamant that he was initially hired, then fired from the soundtrack, claiming, “It was actually pretty soon after they brought me in to show me parts of the movie and what they were looking for and stuff. Then I got word that there was like a wholesale swap.”
Twenty One Pilots haven’t suffered from this firing, though, and the pair still have a massive fanbase, even making a concert film, More Than We Ever Imagined. Meanwhile, they’ve been featured on the soundtracks to a few movies and TV shows, like Arcane and Shazam!, so it’ll probably only be a matter of time until they’re heard on the soundtrack of something else again, although probably not something starring Tom Cruise.
