Can you imagine replacing Tom Cruise with another high-caliber actor for the “Mission Impossible” films? Perhaps not — the franchise is just one of the many that are defined by their main characters after years and years of role reprisal.
Nowadays, movies are more about the characters rather than the actual actors, especially in some blockbuster franchises like the “Spider-Man” where the titular character still has the same appeal with its audience after having been played by numerous actors over the years.
Defining the Film
But this is where “Mission Impossible” deviates from the trend. Ever since its debut film in 1996, the producers have held on to actor Tom Cruise, who has played the lead character, Ethan Hunt, and is a major driving force behind the franchise’s success.
So blinded are the fans by Cruise’s popularity, that many of them don’t even remember the government operative’s name but can easily recognize the 56-year-old artist in the film. But after almost two decades of playing the role, Tom Cruise is ready to hang up the white flag and retire.
While it must be hard for the actor to accept this reality, it’s even harder for Mission Impossible fans who have grown up seeing Cruise in action and can’t even think about another celebrity stepping in for the role. Jack Reacher will certainly have a hard time trying to win the fans over as he becomes the new face of the franchise.
Reacher has a lot to learn from his predecessor who gave his everything to the franchise in order to play his part convincingly, even if it meant doing his own death-defying stunts which even resulted in a broken ankle on one occasion.
For all the blood and sweat he has put into his mission, you can bet that the actor was making some big bucks — and probably taking a stuntman’s salary too since he didn’t need a double for his role.
It has been more than two decades since the first Mission Impossible saw light, and, according to reports, all of the films totaled $3 billion! One of the driving forces behind the success is no doubt Tom, who puts his life in danger every time he does the difficult feats – trivia: the actor broke his ankle during the production of “Fallout.”
Hefty Paychecks
In 1996, Tom pocketed about $70 million for the first Mission Impossible movie, which, when adjusted for inflation, is more than $114 million today!
It is worth noting that the budget for that picture was just $10 million shy of what the star had gotten. For the second and third installments that premiered in 2000 and 2006, he reportedly took home a cool $75 million for each film as an upfront payment and 30% of the film’s total box office earnings.
The handsome thespian’s earnings for 2011’s Ghost Protocol were just shy of $70 million whereas his performance in “Rogue Nation” four years later earned Tom a $25-million upfront check as well as millions in back-end profits.
Last year’s Fallout had quite a successful opening weekend, earning $61 million against the projected $50 million, making it the biggest opening of all the “Mission Impossible” films. For the whole run of the movie, it amassed $220 million and the star was paid $28 million upfront.
Total Earnings
If you do the math, in all of the six Mission Impossible films, Tom earned a minimum of $285 million as the lead star – this was without taking to account the shares for the back-end profits for the installments that premiered in 2011, 2015, and 2018.
If you would adjust it to today’s inflation, the amount would balloon to almost $390 million! Proof that there is no stopping the actors just yet is the upcoming release of the next films under the franchise, the seventh and eighth in 2021 and 2022.
