Once Tinseltown's top power couple, the actors will have their divorce finalized August 8--just six months after announcing the breakup of their decade-long union.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lee Smalley Edmon signed off on the paperwork Tuesday, clearing the way for an immediate split that will become official in a week. (The couple will still have to divvy up their property and bank accounts at a later date--a trial-setting conference is set for October 4.)
Cruise, 39, filed for divorce February 7, citing irreconcilable differences. The petition asked for shared custody of the couple's two kids, Isabella, 8, and Conor, 6. Two days earlier, in a joint announcement, they blamed their faltering marriage on "divergent careers which constantly kept them apart."
According to Cruise's filing, the two had been separated since December, just shy of their 10-year anniversary. But, according to her own court papers, that "came as shock" to Kidman, who said the couple "happily celebrated their 10th anniversary with a group of friends" on December 24 and it wasn't until February 4 that Cruise said "he no longer wanted to live with her and that he wanted a divorce."
(By claiming the later date, Kidman, 34, can take advantage of a California law that says that after 10 years of marriage, a spouse must pay alimony until the other partner remarries.)
The made-for-the-tabloids split also included reports of a miscarriage, dueling flings with fellow celebs and even a homosexual affair.
Only the miscarriage turned out to be true: In her court papers, Kidman says she became pregnant with Cruise's baby but suffered a miscarriage during the tumultuous breakup.
Cruise's purported tryst with his Vanilla Sky costar Penélope Cruz was quickly denied (the two only began dating recently, insists Cruise/Cruz rep Pat Kingsley), as were Kidman's alleged liaisons with Russell Crowe, George Clooney and Ewan McGregor (although Kidman and Crowe were recently spotted vacationing at the same Tahiti resort).
Cruise, meanwhile, launched a $100 million lawsuit against a gay porn star who allegedly told a French magazine that he was Cruise's lover and the reason for the split between Cruise and Kidman. Cruise has said he's willing to go to court to prove he's not gay. The porn star, who goes by the stage name Kyle Bradford, issued a statement denying he ever gave such an interview.
While their respective legal and PR machines sift through the wreckage and try to minimize the damage to either star's image, Cruise and Kidman continue to make movies and life goes on.
Despite the nastiness of the past few months, Cruise and Kidman will be making at least two more public appearances together before the divorce is final.
Both will attend the premiere of her new film, The Others, next Tuesday in Los Angeles. And both are due in an L.A. courtroom the following morning as the last act of their marriage plays out and their days as offscreen costars officially comes to an end.