Tom Cruise Set for Massive Payday Thanks to Top Gun: Maverick’s Box Office Success

In the history of cinema, there have been certain actors who have been willing to duck out on a sizable wage packet in favor of taking a cut of a movie’s profits. Tom Cruise could be the next actor to make a mind boggling amount of money from his nostalgic mega-hit Top Gun: Maverick after the film soared past $1 billion at the box office in the last couple of weeks. Returning to the role of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell after more than 30 years, no one predicted that the Top Gun sequel would decimate the box office to become the biggest movie of the year and of Cruise’s career.

According to a report by Puck News, thanks to a savvy deal made way back in the early stages of the movie’s development, Cruise stands to make a lot more than his $12.5 base salary that was agreed for him to star in the film. The report goes on to detail that while his initial pay-out seems on the low side for one of Hollywood’s best known actors, that is because Cruise will also receive a potential “10 percent of the movie’s first-dollar gross with escalators that increase his percentage at certain milestones.” While this clause doesn’t take effect until Paramount his $125 million in profit, there is no fear of that not happening, and with streaming profit, rentals and digital copies all to come, Cruise could end up receiving a total pay packet between $60 million up to over $100 million for Top Gun: Maverick.

Related: Tom Cruise Once Again Risks His Life in Latest Look at Mission: Impossible 7

Tom Cruise Will Soon Bring His Mission: Impossible Franchise to a Close

While there is no doubt that Tom Cruise has struck gold with his Maverick return, the 60-year-old has more hits on the horizon with the culmination of the Mission: Impossible franchise. While there are many actors of Cruise’s age who would be looking to pull back on dangerous action hero roles, Cruise was recently seen defying death once again for a scene from Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

Cruise has recently been seen dangling from a bi-plane in mid-flight while the plane turned upside down. This is nothing new for the adrenaline-junkie actor, who has previously been seen on the set of the film fighting on top of a train, jumping from a motorcycle and more in his usual dedicated effort to bring the most realistic action sequences possible to the big screen.

According to reports, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will not only deliver on big thrills but will also end on a cliffhanger that will leave fans waiting a whole year to find out how the franchise comes to an end in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two. With Cruise’s last movies as Ethan Hunt having pulled in increasing box office returns, there is nothing to suggest that Cruise will not soon be adding another $1 billion movie to his portfolio. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is scheduled for release in the United States on July 14, 2023, by Paramount Pictures. The final sequel, Dead Reckoning Part Two, is scheduled to be released on June 28, 2024.