Paula Wagner is stepping down from her post as co-owner and CEO at United Artists thus ending her long partnership with Tom Cruise. Both of them were brought to revive United Artists in November 2006. Wagner is planning to pursue projects independently but will still own the studio together with Cruise. Both of them still believe in the 90 year old studio founded by artists like Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford.

"I’ve truly relished working with my longtime partner Tom Cruise to revitalize United Artists, and I am proud of all that we’ve accomplished in the past two years, reinvigorating the brand and developing such a strong slate of films," Wagner said in a statement Wednesday.

Although they did a good job with the studio, they also had several problems with films like "Lions for Lambs," which lost about $30 million, or "Valkyrie," starring Tom Cruise, a Nazi officer who fails to assassinate Hitler and is therefore executed. It is actually based on real facts and the officer is a real national hero in Germany. The $110 million movie is out Dec. 26, 2008. MGM has moved the film to open Dec. 26, instead of the Feb. 13 date that was previously announced due to commercial reasons. So it will probably be included on the 2009 Oscar List, along with "Marley and Me" with Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, "Revolutionary Road" with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet and the list may go on.

With Paula Wagner living, the future of United Artists as a strong, independent label within the MGM is rather foggy.