Tom Cruise has denied begging his Scientology church leaders to provide him with funding for future movie projects after being dropped by former investor Paramount last week.

The actor has just signed a lucrative deal with a financial conglomerate.

However, recent reports suggested that he had earmarked the Church of Scientology's coffers as back-up should the deal fall through.

A spokeswoman for his production company, Cruise-Wagner, slams the story as "completely untrue".