Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

That chorus of media singing the death of Tom Cruise's career as a movie star last summer — after the failure of the Cameron Diaz-Cruise action flick "Knight and Day" — seems to have fueled the 48-year-old matinee idol's drive for a comeback. You'll recall that after "Knight" had the lowest Cruise opening weekend in 20 years, such piercing taunts as "Flop Gun," "fizzler," "lost his mojo" and "superstardom just isn't working for him anymore" flooded the Internet, TV and print worlds.

But now, with director Adam Shankman telling "Access Hollywood" that Cruise is fiercely devoting himself to prepping for his role in "Rock of Ages," it's all the more apparent he's not going to take all that lying down. The big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical has Cruise as an aging rock star, and he's been heavy into voice lessons and research, "pouring himself in this part in a way I've never had an actor do," to hear Shankman tell it. Who'da thunk it? Suri's daddy can sing!

This, of course, comes on the heels of reports of Cruise extending himself to the max while making his fourth "Mission: Impossible" movie, "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol," due out in December. Among other things, production PR included the release of stills of the star doing a stunt on the 124th floor of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai — not to mention shots of ol' Tom on a harness, shirtless and ripped enough to make hearts flutter.

Whatever else, you've got to give Cruise credit for continuing to live up to his reputation for being a preternaturally persistent perfectionist. As Paul Dano put it, "If something isn't right, you're going to do it again. I love that attitude."

TRUNK SHOW: Allison Janney admits she was taken aback by Internet complaints about the use of an elephant on Matthew Perry's new "Mr. Sunshine" series, in which she plays his boss.

As far as the creature seen on "Mr. Sunshine," "I can say the people who owned her were very loving to her. It was just amazing the way the trainer worked with her, and she'd come right out and hit her marks," recalls the actress, who adds that she loved the experience of working with the animal. "They're so majestic and soulful. I'd never been that close to one."

People will take whatever opportunities they can to promote their causes, she points out.

With the current season's "Mr. Sunshine" episodes already in the can, she's taking the opportunity for some downtime. "I'm trying to just enjoy my dogs, taking them out and walking them. It would be nice to take a little vacation. We'll see."

COME FLY WITH ME: While the Oscar-loving world waits eagerly to find out which of the 10 Best Picture nominees will be proclaimed top of the top, "The Social Network" director David Fincher is, of course, busy with his next cinematic endeavor. A casting call went out for featured extras for his "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" — for British flight attendants who "must be VERY (their emphasis) pale" and a size 6 to size 8, "no larger, no smaller." Now there's a guy who knows what he wants.

Also poised for takeoff, Sid Ganis' "Pan Am" pilot for Sony Pictures and ABC, with Tommy Schlamme directing. The series is to take place in the early '60s, and will be populated by a flight crew of the then-new Pan Am Clipper — back in the days when it was glamorous to fly.

HOW TIME FLIES: It seems as if the holidays were just a few weeks ago, and already it's time for "The 12 Dates of Christmas." That is, the casting of an ABC Family movie that sounds an awful lot like a female version of "Groundhog Day." It's about a young woman determined to carry out her plans for the perfect life, ignoring the fact that Mr. Right might be right in front of her. She passes out in a department store on Christmas Eve and keeps waking up there, beginning her day all over again. We've had shopping experiences that were pretty much like that.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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