Every time Tom Cruise returns to the big screen with “Mission: Impossible,” it’s nothing short of a global event. As the 17th-highest-grossing film series of all time, having earned over $4.09 billion worldwide, the franchise is set to rake in even more with “The Final Reckoning,” which comes with a budget of $400 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
This new chapter picks up two months after the events of “Dead Reckoning Part One,” with the beloved IMF agent Ethan Hunt continuing his mission to stop the villain Gabriel from obtaining the AI program known as “the Entity.” The picture also sees a reunion of fan-favorite characters, with Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Henry Czerny, and Angela Bassett all returning to reprise their roles.
As this release hits theaters, there are plenty of questions surrounding it, from whether more movie are on the horizon to how much Tom Cruise is making for returning to the spy franchise that made him a household name. After all, the star is not just one of the most bankable actors of his generation—he’s likely one of the most bankable celebrities in the history of cinema.
Tom Cruise’s alleged salary for Mission: Impossible 8
According to Variety, Tom Cruise chose to get a smaller base payment for “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning”—around $12 to $14 million—but, as main producer, he made a deal to earn a percentage of the money the movie makes at the box office from the very beginning, even before the studio makes its money back.
While it may initially seem weird that Cruise is not banking a base of $20 million like other a-listers, this deal is actually much more profitable. For example, with “Top Gun: Maverick,” which made almost $1.4 billion worldwide, Cruise did the same and took home over $100 million adding together his base salary, box office earnings, and extra money from streaming and rentals.
Now, while we will have to wait a few months after “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is released to know exactly how much Cruise earned, we can make an estimated calculation using “Dead Reckoning Part One” as a reference. That film grossed $571.1 million worldwide, and Cruise’s deal ensured that he received a percentage of the box office from the very first dollar, in addition to his base salary of $12 to $14 million.
If we assume Cruise’s first-dollar gross deal gave him at least 10% of the worldwide box office, he would have earned around $28.56 million from ticket sales alone (assuming the studio keeps about 50% of the gross). Adding that to his base salary, Cruise likely earned between $40.56 million and $42.56 million from “Dead Reckoning Part One,” not including any additional earnings from streaming, rentals, or home entertainment. If “The Final Reckoning” performs similarly or better, his total payout could easily fall within this same range—or potentially exceed it—depending on the final box office numbers and additional revenue streams.
