ABSTRACT
Surrounding the release of Steven Spielberg’s science-fiction blockbuster War of the Worlds (2005), a widely circulated publicity still featured star Tom Cruise with his arm placed protectively around the shoulders of young co-star Dakota Fanning, as they gaze heavenwards in bewildered wonder. The widespread promotional use of this image, as opposed to one showcasing its genre, spectacle, or blockbuster credentials to greater effect, manifestly indicated that fatherhood and familial relations would be thematically prominent. This thematic bent was commensurate with recent developments in Spielberg’s output and, as this chapter will ultimately contend, with a current trend in depictions of screen fathers, manifested across the spectrum of Hollywood’s male star-led genres.
