Tom Cruise and Away" (1992), both of which co-starred then-wife Nicole Kidman as his love interest. In 1994, Cruise starred along with Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas and Christian Slater in Neil Jordan's "Interview with the Vampire", a gothic drama/horror film that was based on Anne Rice's best-selling novel. The film was well received, although Rice was initially quite outspoken in her criticism of Cruise having been cast in the film, as Julian Sands was her first choice. Upon seeing the film however, she paid $7,740 for a two-page ad in "Daily Variety" praising his performance and apologizing for her previous doubts about
Tom Cruise critical and commercial successes. The following year Cruise starred in the romantic thriller "Vanilla Sky" (2001) with Cameron Diaz and Penélope Cruz. In 2002, Cruise starred in the dystopian science fiction thriller "Minority Report" which was directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick. In 2003, he starred in Edward Zwick's historical drama "The Last Samurai", for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for best actor. In 2005, Cruise worked again with Steven Spielberg in "War of the Worlds", a loose adaptation of the H. G. Wells novel of the same