It's been less than four years since Viacom chief Sumner Redstone famously called Tom Cruise "embarrassing," labeled him as a turn-off for all women and accused him of costing Paramount "a lot of money." He also refused to renew the star's contract.

What a difference a little career upswing makes.

link that the "Risky Business" actor, whose precipitous fall from the pinnacle of the A-list got him rudely cast off the studio's lot in 2006, would appear in a fourth “Mission: Impossible” installment.

For the 47-year-old, the return doesn't just mark his return to the studio that gestated some...