Entertainment Notes: New Poll Says Cruise's Fan Base Slipping

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Powerful Hollywood friends of Tom Cruise rallied to his defense Wednesday as a new poll suggested the actor's odd behavior in recent months may have cost him millions of dollars at the box office.

Days after his latest movie, "Mission: Impossible III," opened to lower-than-expected domestic ticket sales, a USA Today/Gallup poll showed Cruise's star power has dimmed considerably during the past year in the eyes of the public.

In the poll of 1,013 adults conducted over the weekend the film opened in theaters, 35 percent had a favorable opinion of Cruise, while 51 percent had an unfavorable opinion.

That's a major turnaround from last year when Cruise's previous film, "War of the Worlds," opened and his poll ratings were 58 percent favorable and 31 percent unfavorable.

USA Today reported that Cruise's popularity decline with women was especially sharp, slipping from a 56 percent favorable rating in 2005 to 35 percent now.

The complete story may be found here:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/05/10/cruise.poll.reut/index.html?eref=yahoo