Here’s Why Mission Impossible Would NEVER Fire Tom Cruise

FameJuly 11, 2019

Usually, when films emerge victorious at the box office, it is because of the fan following enjoyed by either the director, who has a history of making amazingly thrilling movies, or the franchise, which has complex and intertwined storylines with lovable characters that viewers love to watch on the silver screen.

But neither of these factors explain the monumental success enjoyed by the Mission Impossible franchise. Then, what drives the audiences to the theatres? Two words: Tom Cruise!

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To say that Hollywood actor Tom Cruise and his character in the MI films, Ethan Hunt, are considered one and the same, is an understatement. Without a doubt, if the MI franchise ever decided to make another film without including Cruise in the lead, fans simply would ignore the installment altogether. Ethan Hunt is essential to Mission Impossible, and Tom Cruise is the only Ethan Hunt audiences are willing to accept.

Not Like Other Film Franchises

This is quite different compared to other successful movie franchises. Take The Avengers for example. Part of the Marvel franchise and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Avengers, and all of its characters, have undoubtedly become one of the most lucrative entertainment industry franchise of all time. However, none of the actors playing these characters enjoy as much fame as Tom Cruise does.

For example, when we see Captain America on the screen, our mind does not register the actor that is playing the character, Chris Evans. But, when we see Ethan Hunt on the screen, our mind automatically registers him as Tom Cruise.

While Captain America is also a very famous film character, the actor Chris Evans does not enjoy the same fame and recognition

A Big Paycheck

Of course, this means that Cruise enjoys much more fame compared to the actors in other famous film franchises. And it should come as no surprise that Cruise charges an exorbitant fee for working in the highly successful MI films, considering he is the one driving the audiences to actually buy the ticket and watch it in the cinema.

Reportedly, Cruise’s compensation is a mix of both a flat fee as well as a share of the profits earned by the movie production. The first film brought him $70 million, the next two each paid him $75 million, the fourth $70 million, the fifth $20 million (excluding the 30% of the profits), and the sixth $28 million.

Highly Successful

Altogether, the six productions released under the MI umbrella have been able to garner a total of $3.57 billion in revenue at the box office, which is very impressive considering that cumulatively these films were made with a budget of only $828 million.

The first film was released way back in the mid-90s, and since then, Cruise has been entertaining audiences around the world with his impeccable performances. He is around 57 years old now, and one would think his time of working in an action-packed film such as Mission Impossible may be a thing of the past now. However, that is not the case.

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We cannot imagine a Mission Impossible movie without Tom Cruise in it, that’s for sure!

Two more installments of the franchise are reportedly under production, and Cruise is slated to star in both (obviously). It would be interesting to see whether he performs some of his stunts in these films as well, which wouldn’t be shocking since he has done that flawlessly in the previous films.