The 2010s and beyond would be a mixed bag for Tom Cruise outside of the consistent success of the Mission: Impossible franchise. This is perfectly illustrated by his first film of the decade. In 2010, he re-teamed with his Vanilla Sky co-star Cameron Diaz for the mindless action comedy Knight and Day. Directed by Academy Award nominee James Mangold (Ford v. Ferrari, A Complete Unknown), the film follows June (Diaz), a restorer of vintage cars who unwittingly gets caught up with Roy Miller (Cruise), an eccentric secret agent on the run from the CIA. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Cruise and Diaz’s performances were singled out as a highlight, but the most common criticism was directed towards the film’s lackluster script. Though it wasn’t a bomb, the film was considered a box-office disappointment. It had the misfortune of opening against both Toy Story 3 and Adam Sandler’s Grown Ups. Its $3.8 million take was the lowest opening for a Cruise movie since Far and Away.
After a spectacular return to Paramount with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Cruise appeared in another film for them in 2012, Jack Reacher. Based on the ninth novel in the series by Lee Child, One Shot, the film follows an off-the-grid Military Police Inspector (Reacher) called in to investigate a military-trained sniper suspected of being responsible for a mass shooting. The film reunited Cruise with his Valkyrie scribe, Christopher McQuarrie, who was signed to direct. Casting Cruise was controversial among the fans since Reacher is described to be a big dude at 6’5” in the novels, even though Cruise was only 5′ 7″. Despite the controversy around his casting, the film did fair business at the box office, grossing $218 million on a $60 million budget, and the reviews were generally positive.
I do want to add an interesting tidbit here. The film was supposed to have its world premiere in Philadelphia on December 15, 2012. However, after the events of Sandy Hook a day earlier, Cruise and McQuarrie insisted that they postpone the premiere. McQuarrie had this to say: “Nobody should be celebrating anything 24 hours after a tragic event like that. We thought long and hard about it. This was not a snap judgment, because we wanted to give back to the city of Pittsburgh [by having the premiere there], because they were so great to us.” That was a great response from the Reacher team in general, but especially given the fact the film starts with a sniper scoping out individuals, including a young girl. As far as I know, the U.S. premiere was never rescheduled. This event made me respect Cruise even more. I haven’t spoken a lot about him as a person. His co-stars often single him out as a great guy with an even better work ethic. I’d love to sit down and talk shop with him, as long as we don’t talk about Scientology.
Also in 2012, Cruise starred as rockstar Stacee Jaxx in the film adaptation of the musical Rock of Ages. In the long list of Cruise’s filmography, this looks like another odd choice. At no point prior, had Cruise been in a musical or even sang on screen for that matter. Maybe after climbing the Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol, Cruise thought he needed a real challenge? Regardless, Cruise practiced singing for five hours a day to get the voice down. I will admit, though I wouldn’t go out and buy any of his CDs, Cruise wasn’t the worst part of this movie. There were so many other things that didn’t work. I love the 80s music used in this film, but so much of it didn’t work for me. If you’re making a musical, you would cast people who can sing. The fact that the director cast people like Paul Giamatti, Russell Brand, and Alec Baldwin and expected them to sing, was laughable. I probably laughed more than I should have. What was supposed to be a serious moment, I laughed when Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin announced their feelings for each other by dueting REO Speedwagon’s “I Can’t Fight This Feeling.” For starters, their romance came out of nowhere. Maybe it was toned down for the film, I don’t know. It just seemed out of place, but also, they would be the last two actors I would expect to be serenading each other. The film was a box office bomb, failing to recoup its budget, though Cruise was praised for his against typecasting as Jaxx.
Cruise’s next two films would be both science fiction spectacles directed by filmmakers who would become more frequent collaborators. The first up was Oblivion, directed by Joseph Kosinski. Released in 2013, the film stars Cruise as a maintenance technician in a dystopian future on an Earth desecrated by an alien war. He finds a woman who survived a spaceship crash, leading him to question his purpose and discover the truth about the war. Another film I didn’t see until writing this post, I was a bit underwhelmed. The visuals were stunning, but I thought the story was lacking. To Cruise’s credit, though, I do think his performance elevates the story just a little bit. Though they are vastly different movies, the film does remind me of The Revenant in some ways. The main actor is great in both, and they are visually stunning but boring. Regardless, the film had one of the best openings for any of Cruise’s films since War of the Worlds. The most important thing to come out of this film is Cruise’s relationship with director Joseph Kosinski, which will ultimately lead to important movie number ten. However, we’ve got some time before we arrive there.
In 2014, Cruise starred in the American adaptation of the Japanese novel All You Need is Kill, renamed, Edge of Tomorrow. Directed by Doug Liman, the film reunites Cruise with screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. The film takes place in a future where most of Europe is occupied by an alien race. Major William Cage (Cruise), a public relations officer with no combat experience, is forced by his superiors to join a landing operation against the aliens, only to find himself experiencing a time loop as he tries to find a way to defeat the invaders. Emily Blunt co-stars as the war hero reluctantly drawn to Cage who must help him defeat the invaders. Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson also have juicy, villainous roles.
Far from a box office bomb, the film managed to double its budget, but it was still considerably less than Warner Bros. hoped for. Despite the soft box office opening, the film was well-received by critics, earning a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’ve stated this before, but I am not a huge fan of science fiction films, but I enjoyed this movie more than I anticipated. I only saw this film for the first time when I streamed it on Max, but I was just taken aback by how much I liked it. I think one of the reasons I dislike sci-fi movies is because lots of them are hard for me to follow and you have to suspend a lot of disbelief. Sure, you still have to suspend some disbelief here, but I found the film surprisingly easy to follow. It was quite funny at times and I appreciated the relationship between Cruise and Blunt’s characters. Outside of his Mission films, Edge of Tomorrow is his highest-rated film of the 2010s.
Cruise had sequels on the brain, as the next two years brought sequels to both Mission: Impossible and Jack Reacher. Released in October 2016, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, was a surprise. Though the first film had been intended to launch a franchise, it seemed a sequel would be unlikely due to the lackluster box office in North America. However, once the film reached $200 million worldwide, Paramount began having second thoughts. A year after the release of the first film, Paramount announced a sequel and Cruise officially signed on in February 2014. McQuarrie, director of the first film, declined to direct but returned to serve as producer. Ed Zwick, director of The Last Samurai, signed on to direct. In this installment, Reacher goes on the run with an army major (Cobie Smulders) accused of espionage to clear her name. Though the action sequences were praised, the film’s reception was worse than the first. Many critics called it a “standard, paint-by-the-numbers action fare.” Even though it managed to recoup more than two and a half times its budget, Paramount decided not to move forward with another sequel. The source material would later be adapted into a Prime Video series starring Alan Ritchson.
The next year brought two vastly different vehicles for Cruise. The first was the critically derided, Mummy reboot. Cruise plays U.S. Army Sergeant Nick Morton, a soldier of fortune who accidentally unearths the ancient tomb of entrapped Egyptian princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella). The film originally started life as The Mummy 4, a fourth installment in the Brendan Fraser film series, which I admit, I’ve never seen, nor do I have the desire to. When nothing came to fruition, Universal decided to reboot the franchise. In 2014, veteran screenwriter Alex Kurtzman was paired with several writers including Jenny Lumet (director of Rachel Getting Married) and Chris Morgan (a screenwriter on six Fast & Furious films) to develop a universe of monster movies known as “The Dark Universe.” Kurtzman was eventually selected to direct. Cruise made his involvement official in November 2015, being paid about $12 million.
After numerous setbacks, the film started production in April 2016 and it was anything but smooth sailing. Cruise felt like Kurtzman could not handle the scope of the film and took advantage of Universal’s offer of creative control. He oversaw the shooting of action sequences and micromanaging the overall project. Feeling like the script needed an overhaul, he brought in McQuarrie for an extensive rewrite. Allegedly, crew members on set fell into two camps, one aligned with Kurtzman and the other with Cruise. When the film was released in June 2017, the film received largely negative reviews, earning a mere 15% on Rotten Tomatoes. Due to the ballooning production and marketing costs, the film was estimated to have lost the studio somewhere between $60 and $95 million. Universal had already started developing its Dark World Universe and its official Twitter page posted an image with Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Johnny Depp (attached to star in a new film version of The Invisible Man), Javier Bardem (who had signed on to play Frankenstein’s monster) and Russell Crowe standing together. The next film, a remake of Bride of Frankenstein starring Angelina Jolie, set for a 2019 release, was paused indefinitely. The Dark Universe eventually imploded before it even really began.
The second film of 2017 was the dark comedy, American Made. Loosely based on a true story, the film follows Barry Seal (Tom Cruise), a former commercial pilot who made a little extra cash by flying missions for the DEA and acting as a drug smuggler for Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel. Cruise reunited with his Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman and acted alongside Sarah Wright, Domhnall Gleeson (son of Brendan), and Jesse Pelmons to bring the story of Seal to the mainstream. Though the film is based on true events, it’s hard to know which events are real as you watch it, plus characters are so unique and quirky that it feels like it was scripted by the Coen Brothers. Once you get into the film, it’s a fun, crazy ride. It’s one of my favorite Cruise films of the 2010s, but if the film has one problem, I would say it’s unmemorable. Sure, I remember it, but I remember a lot of movies and movie trivia. The general audience can have a good time watching it, but forget it by the next day. It got positive reviews and grossed $135 million off of a 50 million dollar budget, but it didn’t exactly set the world on fire. Ask any of your friends if they remember this movie. Seriously. I bet most people would say no.
After American Made, Cruise released the sixth installment in the Mission franchise, Fallout, in 2018. Following Fallout (sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun), Cruise returned to his most iconic role as Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell for the long-awaited sequel to Top Gun. Finally hitting screens in 2022 after two years of COVID-related delays, we finally arrive at our final important movie: Top Gun: Maverick.
Movie # 10: Top Gun: Maverick
Finally, we have reached what might be considered the pinnacle of Cruise’s career – Top Gun: Maverick. In the world of cinema, the rule is that sequels are always inferior to the original. There are, of course, some exceptions to the rule. I consider films like The Godfather Part II, Terminator 2, The Dark Knight, and even Toy Story 2, to be some of the best second installments ever made. I would not hesitate for a second to hold Top Gun: Maverick in that same regard. It is a film that improves on its predecessor in every possible way, including the aerial effects, character development, and story. The road (or should I say runway) from the release of the first and second films was an astonishingly long one (36 years), but I would say the film was worth the wait.
Like any successful film, the ramblings of a sequel began not long after the release of the first film. One person who wasn’t on board with a sequel initially was Cruise. When promoting Born on the Fourth of July, Cruise claimed it would be “irresponsible” to make a sequel to Top Gun. Ramblings persisted for years, until 2010, when Paramount officially put a sequel in development. Original director Tony Scott became enthusiastic about crafting a film all about change, more specifically, depicting the end of the dog fighting days and the use of aerial drones in warfare. Cruise signed on to the project to reprise his role of Maverick. Together, Cruise, Scott, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer would develop the film in between their other projects. However, after the tragic death of Scott in 2012, development slowed down. Despite the loss of Scott, Cruise and Bruckheimer remained on board.
Production ramped up in 2017 when Cruise’s Oblivion director, Joseph Kosinski, was announced as director. Kosinski had visited Cruise on location while he was filming Mission: Impossible – Fallout and pitched him his take on the film, showing him a lookbook, mock poster, and the title of Top Gun: Maverick. Cruise was so enthused by Kosinski’s presentation that he personally called up the head of the studio and told him he wanted to make the film. Since 2010, numerous writers were attached to the project at one point including Christopher McQuarrie, Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz, Peter Craig, Justin Marks, and Eric Warren Singer. The final credits as determined by the Writers Guild of America are “Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks; Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie.” The official plot involves Maverick confronting his past while training a group of younger Top Gun graduates, including the son of his deceased best friend, Goose, for a dangerous mission.
With the general storyline in place, casting began in 2017. Cruise was paid $13 million and a percentage of the film’s gross to reprise his role. Val Kilmer, cancer-free, successfully lobbied to join the film. I find it somewhat ironic, especially since Kilmer didn’t want to be a part of the first film. I’m sure it also helped that Cruise and Bruckheimer wanted him back too. In June 2018, Miles Teller was cast as Goose’s son Rooster, having beaten Nicholas Hoult and Glen Powell. Cruise was so impressed with Powell’s audition that he cast him as Hangman, one of the elite pilots, and expanded his role. Later that same month, Jennifer Connelly was cast as Penny, an old flame of Maverick’s who runs a seaside bar near the naval base. Other cast additions included Lewis Pullman, Monica Barbaro, Ed Harris, and Jon Hamm. Additionally, actresses Kelly McGillis and Meg Ryan, both of whom appeared in the first film, were not asked back for the sequel.
As an actor who relishes the opportunity to perform his own stunts, Cruise created a three-month boot camp for the actors playing the pilots. The goal was to train the actors to get used to aerobatics and high g-forces, as well as build the spatial awareness they would need to operate the camera equipment. Some of the training was required by the Navy for passengers in tactical jets, including underwater evacuation. The production relied heavily on the Navy, renting out F/A-18 fighter jets at a cost of almost $12,000 per hour. For the external shots, real pilots were flying the F/A-18E, which is a single-seat jet. For added authenticity, when the shot required a close-up of the actor, the F/A-18F was used. This model of the jet was the dual seat. The actors would sit in the back of the jet, simulating flying, while the real Navy pilots operated the plane from the front seat. Despite the actors not piloting the planes themselves, they had to get used to the toll the elevation and gravity would take on their bodies. It took Kosiski a year to work with the Navy crew, but he was able to get four IMAX cameras into the cockpit to emphasize to the audience that the actors were in fact, in these jets.
The release of this film was a test of resilience. It was initially supposed to be released in July 2019 but was delayed to June 2020 in order to perfect the complex aerial shots. Then, as we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, forcing the closure of movie theaters. The film’s release date was moved to December 2020, but when that release date didn’t seem realistic, it was pushed back to July 2021. As that July 2021 date approached and not all theaters were open, it was delayed again to November, and then finally to May 2022. The test of resilience comes into play when a studio holds on to a completed film with a significant budget, for a full two years, hoping the wait pays off. Apple attempted to purchase the rights to the film for their service, but Paramount declined. The studio also considered placing the film on Paramount Plus, but the idea was nixed by Cruise and Bruckheimer, who held firm in their belief that the film needed to be seen on the big screen.
Cruise and Bruckheimer’s instincts were correct. When the film was finally released, it was heaped with praise. Many, like myself, considered it to be superior to the first film. It was a box office juggernaut, earning almost $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office, and it became the highest-grossing film of Cruise’s career. It was also credited for reviving the box office post-COVID. Surprisingly, it was the second highest-grossing film of the year. In any other year, it would be the highest grossing, but Avatar: The Way of Water, another (slightly less) long-awaited sequel hit the screen and grossed over $2 billion worldwide.
It’s a miracle the film turned out as well as it did. A sequel coming 36 years after the original, shouldn’t have worked. If the film was released three years after the original, it wouldn’t have worked. The film needed the passage of time as an important element. Maverick needed to grow as a human. If he was that same arrogant, young pilot from the first film, the audience wouldn’t have cared. The beauty of Tom Cruise as both an actor and a producer is that he not only knows what the audience wants but has the insight to know that when you raise the spectacle, you also have to raise the story. He’s demonstrated that with the Mission movies, where once you hit Ghost Protocol, each entry somehow manages to improve upon itself. In 2023, the film was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, winning for Best Sound. As part of the producing team, Cruise was one of the nominees for Best Picture.
As we approach the end of the post, we need to look at Cruise’s upcoming works. In 2023, he released Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and has the eighth installment, The Final Reckoning, in post-production, set for a May 2025 release. Projects in development include sequels to Top Gun: Maverick and Days of Thunder. I’ve got mixed feelings about a sequel to Top Gun: Maverick. I think Maverick worked because Cruise and the team caught lightning in a bottle. What are the odds it would work again? I’m not sure. But at the same time, if anyone could make a great sequel to a great movie, it would be Cruise. If you look at each of the Rotten Tomato scores from his Mission movies, each installment has gotten higher ratings than its predecessor. Days of Thunder, I’m not worried about. I wasn’t a huge fan of Days of Thunder, to begin with. But again, if Cruise can apply the Top Gun: Maverick magic to Days of Thunder, I would be excited to see that.
In 2024, Cruise and his production company signed a non-exclusive production deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. This non-exclusive deal allows him to work with Paramount on the aforementioned sequels. It could also lead to a long-rumored sequel to Edge of Tomorrow. In a promising sign of Cruise returning to his roots, it was announced that his first film for the studio would be an untitled film co-written and directed by Academy Award winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Cruise will produce and act alongside an ensemble cast including Sandra Hueller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, and Riz Ahmed. The official logline listed on IMDb is as follows: “The most powerful man in the world causes a disaster and embarks on a mission to prove that he is the savior of humanity.” The film is set to be released in October 2026.
I for one am excited to see where Cruise’s career goes from here. I would love to see Cruise win an Oscar one day, as I believe he is more than capable of doing so. He’s come close but just has to find the right project. Looking back at Cruise’s career, two things have struck me. The first is his versatility. He can easily transition from a “popcorn” flick to a serious drama that proves his acting abilities, or even an occasional comedy or musical. The second is how many peaks and valleys his career has had. Between the release of Endless Love and the upcoming Iñárritu film, Cruise’s career will have lasted 45 years and counting. It’s impossible to stay on top for so long. After reaching stratospheric heights Cruise found himself at an all-time low, only to work his way back to the top again. With all of this explained it’s no surprise that Cruise is considered one of the last movie stars.
Thank you to those who stuck with me throughout this series. Your support means a lot to me. Until we meet again…