Tom Cruiseis a well-established box office star who is known for headlining some massively popular films, but it’s been 24 years since he achieved the biggest milestone of all.Cruise’s spot as one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars began in the late 1980s, and he proved his worth at the box office throughout the 90s as all but two of his moviesmade over $100 million at the box office. He then surpassed that milestone 11 times in the 2000s as theMission: Impossiblefranchise expanded and he worked with Steven Spielberg on two massive hits.
To date, Tom Cruise’s movies have made over $12 billion at the worldwide box office, according toThe Numbers, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. Cruise’s trajectory at the box office is still climbing too. The record for thehighest-grossing movie of Cruise’s careerhas been broken twice in the last six years thanks toMission: Impossible - FalloutandTop Gun: Maverick- which is the current record holder. Despite all the success that Cruise still experiences at the box office, there’s one milestone he’s yet to do in nearly a quarter century.
Mission: Impossible 2 Was The Biggest Film Of 2000
Tom Cruise has been in box office hit after box office hit in the last two decades. However, he has yet to produce a movie during that stretch that finished the year as the highest-grossing movie overall. The last time this happened was back in 2000 with the release ofMission: Impossible II. The highly-anticipated sequel to Cruise’s 1996 franchise relaunch, which made an impressive $457 million worldwide, arrived with plenty of excitement. Directed by John Woo,Mission: Impossible IIpromised to up the action and thrill audiences from start to finish.
Mission: Impossible IIwas a massive box office hit throughout the year after its May release.It finished the year with a global box office total of $546 million. That performance was huge for the franchise and its star. Not only was it a new career best for Cruise at the time, but the nearly $100 million increase from the first film proved there was plenty of interest in seeing the franchise continue. The most important part, though, is thatMission: Impossible IIwas the highest-grossing movie of 2000 thanks to this performance.
Cruise’sMission: Impossiblesequel came out on top in a competitive year at the box office. His action franchise made nearly $90 million more than the next closest film,Gladiator. This put Cruise above Russell Crowe at the box office, as well as Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, Jim Carrey, Ben Stiller, George Clooney, and Harrison Ford - who all had movies in the top 10. It also marked the second time in Cruise’s career that he finished the year as the star of the biggest movie at the box office.
Tom Cruise Has Only Starred In The Year’s Highest Grossing Movie One Other Time
Top Gun Was The First Time Tom Cruise Topped The Box Office
Top Gunis one of Tom Cruise’s most iconic movies and played a huge role in making him a significant box office draw. That’s largely because Tony Scott’s action film made $176 million worldwide in 1986. To help put that into perspective,Top Gun’s box office gross adjusted for inflation is $514 million. This helped Tom Cruise be the star of the year’s highest grossing movie for the first time in his career.
Tom Cruise Movies To Finish #1 At The Worldwide Box Office
$176 million
Mission: Impossible II(2000)
$546 million
Top Gun’s spot at the top of the 1986 box office was only narrowly accomplished.Crocodile Dundeefinished about $2 million shy ofTop Gun’s box office, so Paul Hogan’s comedy nearly took the first spot later in the year. SinceTop Gunultimately beat outCrocodile Dundee, it is the only other time in Cruise’s career where he was in the year’s biggest box office earner beyondMission: Impossible II. However, he almost had the accomplishment a third time thanks toTop Gun’s return.
Tom Cruise Just Missed Out On Having The Highest Grossing Movie Of 2022 With Top Gun: Maverick
Top Gun: Maverick Would Have Been 2022’s Biggest Box Office Hit Most Years
Top Gun: Maverickwas a movie that Cruise and audiences waited decades for, and the response propelled it to record-breaking box office heights.The sequel made nearly $1.5 billion at the worldwide box officethroughout 2022. Although the film was delayed multiple times, Paramount and Cruise smartly held out for a full theatrical release, and they were rewarded for it. The only reasonTop Gun: Maverickdidn’t finish the year as the biggest box office hit is becauseAvatar: The Way of Watercame out - and it made almost another billion dollars more.
The box office battle betweenAvatar: The Way of WaterandTop Gun: Maverickwas not always expected. TheAvatarsequel held multiple release dates over the years, as didTop Gun’s sequel, thanks to various delays. There easily could have been a world whereAvatar: The Way of Watercame out a different year thanTop Gun: Maverick, which would have allowed Cruise to be at the top of the box office once again.
Finishing in the second spot at the global box office for 2022 is still an impressive accomplishment for Cruise andTop Gun: Maverick. ItjoinsRain Manas the only film of his to finish second at the worldwide box officefor any given year. 1996 was a great year for Cruise as he had two films in the top five, withMission: Impossiblefinishing third andJerry Maguirefinishing fourth.The Firm(1993) andWar of the Worlds(2005) also finished as the fourth biggest movies of their respective years.
Tom Cruise has had 16 movies finish in the top 10 at the global box office in the year of its release
Cruise has had several other films finish in the top 10 at the global box office throughout his career.A Few Good Men(1992) andMission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol(2011) are the only other films to finish in the top five.The Last Samuraifinished sixth in 2003, too. The eighth spot is most frequent for Cruise asMission: Impossible III,Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, andMission: Impossible - Falloutfinished there in 2006, 2015, and 2018.Minority ReportandMission: Impossible - Dead Reckoningboth finished tenth in 2002 and 2023.
Tom Cruise’s Upcoming Movies Aren’t Likely To Give Him The Top Spot At The Box Office
But He’ll Still Have Some Big Hits Ahead
Tom Cruise has still been chasing the box office high ofMission: Impossible IIfor the last 24 years, and the bad news for him is that his streak is sure to continue for the next several years.Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoninghopes to rebound nicely afterDead Reckoning’s box office underperformed. Even if it does do franchise-best numbers, it’s unlikely to finish as the highest-grossing movie of 2025, given how many highly anticipated films are slated for the year.
Top Gun 3is the most likely of Cruise’s upcoming projects to potentially top the global box office
It’s also not expected that any other upcoming Tom Cruise movies will finish at the top of the box office. His films with Christopher McQuarrie, Doug Liman, and Alejandro G. Iñárritu should do well for what they are but won’t contend with the biggest films of the year.Top Gun 3is the most likely of Cruise’s upcoming projects to potentially top the global box office. However, the sequel does not have a release date and is still years away at best, leavingTom Cruisewaiting for a chance to be the king of the box office once again.
