Mission, UEFA: Tom Cruise Joining David Beckham Live For Champions League Final On Paramount+
- Tom Cruise and David Beckham will be live onscreen together for Paramount+’s Beckham & Friends Live to watch the UEFA Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan.
EXCLUSIVE:Is it just two mates sitting around watching the UEFA Champions League final on a summer Saturday, or is it Tom Cruise and David Beckham opening the gates of Paramount cross-promotion heaven?
We may never truly know the answer to that grand puzzle, but we do know that after Cruise’s Paramount-distributed Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning shattered franchise records in its Memorial Day opening weekend, the four-time Oscar nominee will be live onscreen with the former England captain and Inter Miami co-owner for Paramount+’s Beckham & Friends Live on Saturday to watch Paris Saint-Germain play Inter Milan.
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It will come just a few weeks after Cruise celebrated at Beckham’s star-studded 50th birthday party in London, and represents a big get for Beckham’s latest big step in front of the camera.
Put it this way, with Shari Redstone looking for a regulatory sign-off on the $8 billion sale of Paramount Global parent company National Amusements to David Ellison’s Skydance, Saturday’s UEFA final is the company’s sports equivalent of putting all your golden eggs in one basket.
With more famous friends also likely on the mainly unscripted deck, Cruise and Beckham will have CBS Sports’ Kate Scott to keep the conversation going, as she has in the two previous Beckham & Friends Live shows. The livestream for the match is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on Paramount+. A Beckham- and Cruise-less version of the game will air on CBS, as well as Paramount+.
During the Champions League semifinals, Beckham — who does sponsorship and self-branding at the dizzying heights Cruise relentlessly markets his movies — was paired with Scott, director Guy Ritchie and Emmy winner Stanley Tucci on May 6. The result was more stilted than one would expect, or certainly than CBS Sports wanted. It surely is one reason why things kicked up for the show the next day with Scott, James Corden and The Handmaid’s Tale alum Joseph Fiennes sitting with Beckham. To keep the patter more punchy, Arsenal legend Thierry Henry also swung by for a bit to watch PSG, one of Beckham’s old clubs, eventually beat the Gunners.
The May 31 final sees favorite PSG hoping to snag its first UCL win, while three-time winner Inter is as close to old hands at this as you can be at the top levels of European soccer.
Paramount+ Presents Beckham & Friends Live is produced by CBS Sports’ Pete Radovich with UEFA Champions League, Authentic Brands Group and Relevent Sports.
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