Being an A-lister for most of his life, Tom Cruise is among the richest Hollywood celebrities today, owing to the long line of box office hits he has delivered throughout his career. Cruise is estimated to be worth over half a billion dollars in net worth, and thanks to his latest movie, the Academy Award nominee Top Gun: Maverick, his net worth has soared even higher.
Top Gun: Maverick is a long-awaited sequel to the 1986 original, and it chronicles Cruise's Pete "Maverick" Mitchell's return to the TOPGUN Naval Aviation Program after 30 of his graduation to instruct the elite fliers of the institution. He is tasked with instructing Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, played by Miles Teller, and a new class of pilots, played by Glen Powell, Greg Tarzan Davis, Jay Ellis, Monica Barbaro, and Lewis Pullman. The movie also stars Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, and Val Kilmer, who reprises his role from the original movie.
Tom Cruise had negotiated a lesser amount for his role in Top Gun: Maverick
Top Gun: Maverick became the top movie of Tom Cruise's remarkable career when it passed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office last month. It was the first of Cruise's films to reach the rare milestone of a billion. Reacting to the box office success of the movie, Cruise said:
"To all the films in release, to all the studios, and to all the exhibitors: congratulations. To the audience: thank you for venturing out and allowing us to entertain you. See you at the movies,"
It was initially reported that Tom Cruise made $13 million upfront for his role in the film. However, he is expected to earn millions more on the backend. This means that the Mission Impossible actor bagged a total of $100 million from a combination of his upfront salary and ticket sales. This value is only expected to increase once his movie is introduced on streaming platforms or network tv channels.
Apparently, Cruise negotiated a lesser amount for his role in the movie, $13 million, and cut a deal where he would be earning more after the movie's theatrical release. This risk investment leaves him with much more fortune, given Cruise only delivers box-office blockbuster hits.
The actor reportedly negotiated a similar deal for the next Mission Impossible movies. He will be paid $12 to $14 million upfront and make more out of the revenue from the movie.
As of now, Tom Cruise's net worth is $600 million, and it will only keep increasing, given the actor averages a salary of $50 million a year.
Top Gun: Maverick is the second-highest-grossing movie of 2022
Top Gun: Maverick was the second highest-grossing theatrical release of 2022, with a box office revenue of around $1.5 billion worldwide, with $719 million being generated in the U.S. and Canada itself.
The movie would have easily been the highest-grossing movie of the year had it not been for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water surpassing Top Gun: Maverick's box office earnings. Cameron's movie managed to bag more than $2 billion worldwide.
Top Gun: Maverick has made it to the twelfth highest-grossing film of all time and has also been nominated for an Oscar for Best Movie.
Catch the Oscars 2023 to see if the Tom Cruise-starrer manages to take away the accolade.