 Epstein argues that Cruise is one of the few producers (the others being George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer) who are regarded as able to guarantee the success of a billion-dollar film franchise.Epstein also contends that the public obsession with Cruise's tabloid controversies obscures full appreciation of Cruise's exceptional commercial prowess.Cruise/Wagner Productions, Cruise's film production company, is said to be developing a screenplay based on Erik Larson's "New York Times" bestseller, "The Devil in the White City" about a real-life serial killer, H. H. Holmes, at Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition.