Multimillion-Dollar Bounty on TomKat Baby Photo
April 19, 2006 — -- It's "Risky Business" and nothing short of a "Mission Impossible," but the next "Top Gun" among celebrity photographers will be the one who snaps a picture of the infant daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.
"This could go from anywhere from $3 [million] to $5 million, depending on the bidding war that ensues," Us Weekly senior West Coast editor Ian Drew told ABC News Radio.
Drew said that only a photograph of the child Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are expecting could fetch more money. Right now, celebrity photographers are in a frenzy trying to wrangle an image of TomKat's kitten.
"They're not going to stop trying to get that first shot of the baby right now," he said. "Until Tom and Katie release a shot of the baby -- if they do. It would be the smart thing in my opinion. This frenzy is going to keep going for days and days."
A crowd of at least a dozen photographers gathered outside Cruise and Holmes' Beverly Hills, Calif., home Tuesday, after it was announced that the 27-year-old actress had given birth to a 7-pound, 7-ounce girl named Suri. Some visitors left flowers, notes and baby gifts outside the gates.
Cruise's spokesman Arnold Robinson confirmed that the couple had "joyously welcomed" the arrival of their child, giving no other details of the birth, except "mother and daughter are doing well."
'Mission Impossible' Media Blitz on Hold
Cruise had been expected to continue his media blitz for "Mission: Impossible III," but he's canceled media appearances. He had said previously that the delivery would follow the tenets of the Church of Scientology, and public controversy erupted over the church's position on silent births.
In an interview with Diane Sawyer last week on "Primetime," Cruise dispelled rumors that Holmes would not be able to make any noise and wouldn't be allowed medication.
"It's basically just respecting the mother, you know, and helping to be quiet -- not the mother. The mother makes as much noise. … You know, she's going through it," he said. "But why have other people make noise? You know, you want that area very calm and to make it very special."
"She does what she's gotta do, OK? … We're there, you know, with doctors," he said. "Whatever the woman wants. I'm not gonna tell Kate. … You know, if she needs an epidural, she's gonna get her epidural."
Suri is Holmes' first child. Cruise, 43, has a 13-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son with ex-wife Nicole Kidman.
The couple began dating last spring amid a flurry of public displays of affection, including a couch-jumping interview by Cruise on Oprah Winfrey's talk show. Just two months after going public with their relationship, Cruise proposed to Holmes in Paris, while they were visiting the Eiffel Tower.
Cruise became a father for the third time on the same day Brooke Shields gave birth to her second child, a girl named Grier Hammond Henchy. Shields and Cruise had a public spat last year after he criticized her for advocating antidepressants, which she said had helped her through postpartum depression.
Cruise, who has been married twice, has said that he and Holmes are making wedding plans. A wedding date has not been announced. "We haven't seen the last of the TomKat frenzy," Drew said.