Decline of the Cruise Juggernaut - A Brief History

February 2001: After 10 years of marriage, the 38-year-old Cruise files for divorce from superstar wife Nicole Kidman, terminating one of the most photographed pairings in entertainment history. The official statement says the split came because of "difficulties inherent in divergent careers." A long-percolating subterranean rumor caldron boils over with speculation as to the real causes.

July 2001: After parting with Kidman, Cruise quickly prowls the town for another Hollywood mate. Both Gwyneth Paltrow and Cameron Diaz are named by tabloids as potential matches for the star, but in July Cruise's ubiquitous publicist Pat Kingsley confirms that Penelope Cruz is Cruise's official new love interest.

December 2001: "Vanilla Sky's" Cameron Crowe-directed Cruise-Cruz onscreen matchup sends critics fleeing.

2003: Cruise's would-be Oscar shoe-in, "The Last Samurai," is a commercial and critical snoozer. Destiny is denied on Oscar nomination day.

January 2004: After a three-year relationship, lots of talk of marriage (on Cruise's part), Cruz's decision to not become a Scientologist, and long periods apart, Cruise and Cruz split "amicably" - according to the press release. Cruz's father, who encouraged his daughter not to marry the superstar is publicly delighted.

March 2004: Cruise "parts ways" with Pat Kingsley, the PR Titan and his publicist of 14 years, and gives the job to his sister Lee Ann DeVette, who formerly worked on the marketing and publicity of his films. DeVette handles the press swirling around the Cruz-Cruise breakup.

April 2005: Katie Holmes, 26, accompanies Cruise to the David di Donatello Awards in Italy. Publicists for the actors confirm the two have been dating for a few weeks (just months before the opening of his film "War of the Worlds" and her film "Batman Begins"). "She's such an extraordinary woman," Cruise tells reporters. "I'm more than enamored." Commentators express distaste for the couple's age difference and the rumor-caldron burns red-hot once again - and perhaps for the first time in Cruise's career - the rumors are widely aired thanks to the advent of Internet gossip sites.

May 2005: In a likely tipping point moment, a love-drunk Tom Cruise goes on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" to promote his film and proclaim his undying devotion to Holmes by jumping wildly on a couch and wrestling with the talk show host.

June 2005: Holmes and Cruise become engaged at the Eiffel Tower and hold a press conference that afternoon to announce the news. "Today is a magnificent day for me, I'm engaged to magnificent woman," he told reporters.

June 2005: One week later, a crazed Cruise gives an antipsychiatry rant during an interview with Matt Lauer on "the "Today" show, calling it a "pseudoscience," referring to Ritalin as a "street drug," and using poor Lauer's name over and over and over again. "Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt."

June 2005: Just before the release of his film, "War of the Worlds," director Steven Spielberg admits to being "a little upset" by the media circus surrounding his star. "I was a little upset. Not at Tom, but at the press for making such a big deal out of a kind of small thing," the director told reporters.

October 2005: Holmes' pregnancy is announced.

March 2006: Comedy Central abruptly decides not to rerun "Trapped in the Closet" - the "South Park" episode that ridicules both Scientology and makes oh-so-barely veiled (see the episode's title) insinuations about Cruise's sexuality.

May 2006: "Mission: Impossible 3" thuds off the launchpad, bowing with an action film-meager $47 million opening weekend. Box office savants read lessons into the totals and heap a fair portion of the blame on the public's souring on Cruise's persona. Backing up that assessment, USA Today/Gallup releases a poll showing the court of public opinion convicts Cruise with a mere 35% favorable rating versus 51% unfavorable.

April 19, 2006: Suri Cruise is born during a Scientology-devised silent birth in which the newborn is shielded from harmful words of pain in her impressionable first moments on Earth. The arrival is first announced to the public by Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show." In a strange twist of fate, Suri is born on the same day that the Cruise-criticized Brooke Shields delivers her child, guaranteeing that the feud will extend into the next generation.

August 2006: Four months after her birth, baby Suri has yet to make a public appearance or release photographs of herself, leading to yet another frenzy of speculation about where she is and even whether she actually exists. Attempting to tamp down the rumor mill, Cruise ex Penelope Cruz issues a public statement that she has seen Suri and she is "beautiful."

Aug. 22, 2006: Paramount Pictures terminates its 14-year deal with Cruise. Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone adds literal insult to injury, saying, "His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount."