The reports of Tom Cruise's demise have been greatly over exaggerated, for now he's signed a deal with MGM to bring the studio United Artists back to life under joint control.

Cruise and his business partner Paula Wagner, will work together with MGM to control the production slate of UA, with some conditions from MGM it seems. It also secures Cruise to appear in UA films while still working with other studios.

The story from Yahoo News has the following quote from MGM regarding the aims of UA:

"The talent friendly studio will be reborn as a place where producers, writers, directors and actors can thrive in a creative environment,"

Sounds like a superb deal for Cruise. Not only can he Wagner greenlight movies for UA, but Wagner will be the CEO, and Cruise will star in UA films but not be limited to them alone. In fact, it sounds miles better than the deal he previously had with Paramount.

It'll be interesting to see what develops on the production pipeline of UA from here on.

Is this news a surprise to anyone? Did you think that perhaps Cruise was finished or might find a somewhat lesser deal?