on the Today show this morning, a woman was talking about how Cruise and Paramount split. Cruise says it's because his negotiations were not being met the way he wanted, and paramount said it's a combo of his past behavior, which has lost him some appeal, and the fact that MI:3 did less then they expected.
also, Cruise's contract says that forbears payment from studios for doing a movie, but he gets %10 of the gross, so maybe Paramount also didn't want to give him that.
I dunno. it's a he said, she said situation, but I think Cruise did the leaving, because even though his appeal has gone down, he is still one of the most bankable stars in the world, (war of the worlds was his highest grossing ever) and paramount would be making a horrible business decision by letting thier biggest property go.
"I'm an American, Damnit!!! And if it's three things I don't believe in, it's quitting and math."