‘We Need to Bring Tom Cruise Home to Make Movies Here’: U.S. Film Incentive Takes Center Stage at AFM

Tom Cruise may not have much of a presence at the American Film Market, more accustomed to selling movies with considerably lower budgets than those the star is used to. But on the opening day of the 2026 edition his name was casually dropped as part of a major pitch for the much-discussed federal tax incentive.

The initiative, which many in the industry hope will help turn around a major slump in terms of U.S.-shot productions, took center stage at the AFM on day one, which launched with uncharacteristic levels of optimism, at least for Hollywood (and assuming the bill is approved).

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“Star salaries is a key issue, because what we’re looking to do is bring back the biggest movies with the biggest amount of jobs attached to them,” said the MPA’s SVP of federal government affairs Josh Rogin. “So when Tom Cruise does a movie in France, all those jobs become French jobs. All the taxes he pays, he pays it to the French government. Our current system is actually supporting runaway productions in this way. We need to bring Tom Cruise home to make movies here!”

Rogin was speaking on the first panel of the AFM…