Tom Cruise is set for an absolute mega pay day because of Top Gun: Maverick.
The massive sequel has pulled nearly $1.2 billion at the box office and the star of the show is expected to get a decent chunk of that thanks to a deal he cut with Paramount.
Variety reports Cruise 'will net $100 million or more from ticket sales, his salary and his eventual cut of home entertainment rentals and streaming revenue'.
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That is one juicy pay cheque.
The entertainment outlet says Cruise has negotiated a smaller up-front salary for his Mission: Impossible films, but 'commands a significant percentage of the movies’ first-dollar gross'.
He's expected to take home anywhere between $12 million to $14 million for the next two movies as Ethan Hunt, but he'll be walking to the bank with much more than that if they perform well at the box office.
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A studio executive told Variety: "I would never bet against Tom Cruise. Most actors aren’t worth what you pay them, but Cruise and maybe Dwayne Johnson justify their salaries.”
Movie studios and streaming services have been known to shell out $10 million, $20 million and even up to $35 million to actors for their projects.
However, this is usually all the actor will receive once their job is done.
Cruise has the star-power to be able to wrangle a deal that ensures he takes home a lot more than what his counterparts might earn.
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Variety writes: "Cruise’s pact is a vestige of a time when stars, not superheroes, were the reason that audiences flocked to movie theaters to see a new release."
There's no denying Top Gun: Maverick is a record-setter for Cruise and for Paramount Pictures.
It became the first movie of 2022 to hit the $1 billion mark at the box office and the second film to do so since the pandemic began.
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Not only that, but Top Gun: Maverick became Cruise's highest-grossing movie worldwide after just 21 days.
When it surpassed $800 million (£654m) at the global box office, it beat his previous record of $791.1m (£647m) for Mission: Impossible - Fallout, and succeeded in becoming the highest-grossing Cruise movie in 23 different worldwide markets.
In addition to all that, the Top Gun sequel overtook Titanic to become Paramount's highest grossing film of all time.
“For 110 years, Paramount Pictures has produced and distributed some of the most iconic films in Hollywood history, including the all-time classic Titanic, which marks its 25th anniversary this year,” Brian Robbins, Paramount Pictures’ president and CEO said when the big moment happened.
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“Top Gun: Maverick is a phenomenal motion picture, and we take deep pride in celebrating this tremendous achievement alongside Tom Cruise, our filmmakers and cast, our marketing and distribution teams, and, of course, all the new and original Top Gun fans, without whom this wouldn’t have been possible.”
The good times could keep rolling as Tom Cruise has been in talks about doing Top Gun 3.
Topics: Tom Cruise, Top Gun, TV and Film
Stewart Perrie