Tom Cruise has reached a production deal with Metro-Goldwin Mayer that will see the embattled movie star starring in pictures produced by a resurrected United Artists, the legendary studio formed 80 years ago.

The deal will install Cruise’s production partner, Paula Wagner, as chief executive of United Artists, giving the duo the right to set the studio’s production slate and greenlight specific pictures.

MGM will serve as distributor of the United Artists, which initially plans to make four films a year.

This deal comes after Cruise’s public split with Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures, after a 14-year relationship. Viacom’s Chairman Sumner Redstone had said publicly that Cruise’s public behavior had become “entirely unacceptable” after the movie superstar made a series of widely publicized gaffes, including criticizing Brooke Shields for using medication to treat postpartum depression.