Why haven’t TomKat yet shown off their Tomkitten? That, in tabloidese, is what editors of America’s tabloids are scratching their heads and asking.
It’s almost four months since Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise gave birth to a baby called Suri. But where is she?
So far not a single picture of the baby has surfaced. Everyone thinks it’s odd.
The Star even came out with a front page headline "What’s Wrong With Baby Suri?"
Tom Cruise, according to Forbes magazine, is the top earning actor in the world. So all the millions that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie reportedly made for selling the rights recently to pictures of their baby Shiloh may not interest him.
And of course, as the New York Times has pointed out, there is no real reason for celebrities to show off their new little bundles of joy.
Some editors have speculated that Cruise and Holmes are biding their time, waiting for the right moment – and maybe the right amount of money – before doing a deal.
There have been reports the couple are finally planning to get married – and are saving the pictures for that celebratory moment. It's also speculated that People magazine will once again emerge the winner.
One reason: People has been treating the couple lately with kid gloves – very discreetly and almost deferential. “People is courting them. They’ll probably get them”, suggested Joe Dolce editor of The Star.
But that hasn’t prevented other editors speculating. Many are suggesting, like The Star, that there may be something of a mystery.
Some have even taken to publishing made-up pictures of the baby, combining the features of both Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. One magazine, Life & Style, ran a drawing, superimposed on what looked like a wanted poster, describing Suri as the most famous missing baby on the planet.
And what if the pictures do become available. What are they likely to fetch? The estimate of most editors is that they would likely go for between $2 million and $5 million.
As for the possible benefits to the publication that might ultimately publish the first pictures of Baby Suri, they could be substantial. People magazine got a good return for its money when it bought the Pitt-Jolie baby pictures. It claims it sold 700,000 more copies on the news-stands than it usually does – at just under $4 a copy. The issue also generated, People claims, 10,000 new subscriptions at around $100 a piece. Altogether it made a neat profit.
Photo: Cruise and Holmes by Reuters.
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