By Stone Martindale
Jan 13, 2007, 17:30 GMT
Victoria and Tom, Katie and David, their friendship building more and more over time. Now with Tom establishing his new Viacom-free production company with Paula Wagner, his intuition that "Becks" can become a screen star as well as a footballer icon may come real, or will it?
Hollywood insiders are divided on the marquee worth of David Beckham, especially after private talk of his surprsingly un-baritone thinnish voice spread through industry offices around town.
David Beckham and Victoria are said to be big fans of America, naming their first child Brooklyn. Certainly a better choice than Flatbush, Canarsee or Yonkers.
Scientology's uber operating thetan, Tom Cruise, helped grease the wheels for the entire David Beckham move to L.A., and the New York Post reports it is fueling speculation Becks and his wife "may become the church's next celebrity converts."
The Post reported that Beckham said "a late-night phone chat with Cruise helped seal his decision to move stateside."
"I talked with [Cruise] for about an hour last night and an hour the night before," Beckham said at a news conference held yesterday to discuss his five-year, $250 million deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
"I asked him for his advice. ... He's a very wise man and a very good friend of mine. To have his experience and have him explain some things to me, that's a big favor," Beckham said in the press conference.
"He couldn't speak any higher than what he was saying about L.A."
The Post alleges Posh has "accepted church literature from her new friends."
It had been reported earlier that Posh will be cast as alien bride in "The Thetan," a Cruise-backed movie about an immortal spiritual being Scientologists believe is present in all of us.
The once mighty agency of the eighties that was home to Michael Ovitz and "his henchman", CAA, brokered the initial meeting and subsequent friendship of the two couples, reported the Post.
Victoria has been house hunting in Los Angeles, looking at available properties near Katie and Tom.
The Post and other sources cite Katie Holmes tapping into her inner agent and brokering high powered meetings for Posh in hopes of selling the idea she is a bankable star, and has used every conceivable Cruise collaborator connection including Steven Spielberg.
London's Daily Mail reported recently that Katie has been selling Posh the goods on the religion founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Posh is "a prime target for the church, which has a dedicated wing aimed at recruiting high-profile stars." according to the Mail.
"I'm coming there not to be a superstar," Becks told the L.A. news conference via a live satellite link from Madrid. "I'm coming there to make a difference. I'm coming there to play football.
"I'm not saying me coming to the States is going to make soccer the biggest sport in America ... but I think soccer has a huge, huge potential."
The jury on soccer's elevation among other popular US sports is out on that, too.
