# Tom Cruise: Lots Of Years, Lots Of Starring Roles, Double Your Money Back **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811 "2014-07-23T03:01:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/21 "2014-07-23T15:07:33Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > Up until After Earth flopped last year, Will Smith was arguably even a safer bet than Cruise. From 1995 until 2013, every single film he starred in was a massive hit Neither ALI nor BAGGER VANCE broke even. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/22 "2014-07-23T15:14:01Z")
I have thought for years that Tom Cruise has an outstanding ability to pick good projects. Whether that’s due to his agent, himself, or whatever, I will pretty much see anything that Cruise is in. He stars in good movies. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/23 "2014-07-23T15:20:30Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Neither ALI nor BAGGER VANCE broke even. WILD, WILD WEST lost a colossal amount of money. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/24 "2014-07-23T15:21:01Z")
Bear in mind, there’s a certain chicken-or-egg riddle when it comes to A-List actors. I happen to like Tom Cruise more than most SDMB regulars do. I’ve liked a lot of his movies, and consider him a perfectly solid actor (OCCASIONALLY, as in _ **Magnolia** _, a very good one). But did his movies make huge money because he was in them, or did he get offered the lead role in a lot of potential blockbusters because he was already perceived as a big, bankable star? Moreover, he’s made quite a few movies that didn’t draw flies! Did anyone go to see _ **Lions for Lambs** _? No! WHich underscores a point: people like TOm Cruise enough to want to see his movies, but ONLY when he makes a certain TYPE of movie. At one point, years back, Harrison Ford was the star of 6 of the 10 most popular movies of all time. Now, I like Harrison Ford, but was HE the reason the original\*\*\* Star Wars \*\*\* trilogy raked in so much money? Of course not. And was he the reason _ **Raiders of the Lost Ark** _ was huge? Again, no. Ford was LUCKY as well as good. And once he was established as a huge star by those franchises, he became the go-to guy for potential blockbusters . ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/25 "2014-07-23T15:27:06Z")
I’m glad to see this thread as there seems to be general dislike on this board. He’s not a great actor but he is very good. I loved him in Collateral and A Few Good Men. > [@Bone](#): > > I have thought for years that Tom Cruise has an outstanding ability to pick good projects. Whether that’s due to his agent, himself, or whatever, I will pretty much see anything that Cruise is in. He stars in good movies. I think more than this if Cruise shows interest in a movie, no other actor has much of a chance at it. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/26 "2014-07-23T15:27:36Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > He is good because I don’t think he has ever “cruised” through a role(sorry). I just watch “Oblivion” for the first time last night, and didn’t see one scene where it looked like he was phoning it in. True, despite the terrible pun. He has a very narrow acting range but he is good within that. You never think “here is someone reading words” like you do with some actors, even those who do very well. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/27 "2014-07-23T15:31:38Z")
I used to hate Tom Cruise in the Top Gun and Days of Thunder years. . . Cocktail? Yuck! But over the last couple of decades he’s won me over. He’s one of the few actors that hasn’t gotten tied down by a series. Yes, there is the Mission Impossible franchise, but Cruise does his own thing too. I think only Tom Hanks or maybe Leonardo DiCaprio really compares when it comes to his track record of successful movies. And at 52 he’s still a viable romantic lead even when paired with a much younger actress like Emily Blunt, 31. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/28 "2014-07-23T15:33:05Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I like Harrison Ford, but was HE the reason the original\*\*\* Star Wars \*\*\* trilogy raked in so much money? Of course not. And was he the reason _ **Raiders of the Lost Ark** _ was huge? Again, no. Ford was LUCKY as well as good. And once he was established as a huge star by those franchises, he became the go-to guy for potential blockbusters . Yeah, but then the bloom came off the rose, right? After starring in a bunch of movies that didn’t _double_ their budgets – **Sabrina** and **The Devil’s Own** and **Random Hearts** – he started headlining crap that failed to _break even,_ with **K-19** and **Hollywood Homicide**. But then he dug deep and mounted a movie-star comeback with **Firewall** , which, y’know, failed to double its budget, since he’s not, like, Tom Cruise. ---
**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/29 "2014-07-23T15:44:39Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > I used to hate Tom Cruise in the Top Gun and Days of Thunder years. . . Cocktail? Yuck! > > But over the last couple of decades he’s won me over. He’s one of the few actors that hasn’t gotten tied down by a series. Yes, there is the Mission Impossible franchise, but Cruise does his own thing too. > > I think only Tom Hanks or maybe Leonardo DiCaprio really compares when it comes to his track record of successful movies. > > And at 52 he’s still a viable romantic lead even when paired with a much younger actress like Emily Blunt, 31. It took me such a long time to get over the urge to barf at the mere mention of his name due to Top Gun. Someone mentioned Oblivion earlier, and I was also surprised at how little he annoyed me in it. Perhaps, I was being a bit unfair all those years? After all, in Top Gun his character was an overly confident and often obnoxious Navy fighter pilot. Should I have disliked him just because he excelled at the role? ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/30 "2014-07-23T15:47:09Z")
He was great in The Firm. One of his best performances. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/31 "2014-07-23T16:22:15Z")
1981 Taps 1983 The Outsiders 1983 Losin’ It 1983 All the Right Moves 1983 Risky Business 1985 Legend 1986 Top Gun 1986 The Color of Money 1988 Cocktail 1988 Rain Man 1989 Born on the Fourth of July 1990 Days of Thunder 1992 Far and Away 1992 A Few Good Men 1993 The Firm 1994 Interview with the Vampire 1996 Mission: Impossible 1996 Jerry Maguire 1999 Eyes Wide Shut 1999 Magnolia 2000 Mission: Impossible II 2001 Vanilla Sky 2002 Minority Report 2003 The Last Samurai 2004 Collateral 2005 War of the Worlds 2006 Mission: Impossible III 2007 Lions for Lambs 2008 Valkyrie 2008 Tropic Thunder 2010 Knight and Day 2011 Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol 2012 Rock of Ages 2012 Jack Reacher 2013 Oblivion 2014 Edge of Tomorrow That’s a pretty good list. ---
**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/32 "2014-07-23T17:21:43Z")
Wow! 1981 Taps I barely remember that one, but good from what I do remember. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/33 "2014-07-23T19:29:17Z")
Doug Liman, the directory of **Edge of Tomorrow** (along with **Swingers** and **The Bourne Identity** and many other movies) was on an NPR podcast recently, and was asked what really-big-name movie star he most enjoyed working with (with Cruise, Damon and Pitt being the biggest), and he said Tom Cruise showed up for work excited and prepared and was professional but also enthusiastic. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/34 "2014-07-23T19:52:11Z")
Yeah, that’s what they all say about Cruise - he learns his lines, listens to the director, is patient with the cast and nice to the crew. By all accounts, he’s a pleasure to work with, which is hardly something you can say about many megastars. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/35 "2014-07-23T21:26:53Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > I’m glad to see this thread as there seems to be general dislike on this board. He’s not a great actor but he is very good. I loved him in Collateral and A Few Good Men. > > . **A few Good Men** is one of my favorites. \*\*Collateral \*\*is a _very_ underrated film, and Cruise was quite good in it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/36 "2014-07-29T14:03:19Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > One thing I did notice, which is probably significant, is that he’s only averaged one movie _per year_ since the start of his career – so he’s had far fewer chances for starring in a major turkey. I’ve been wondering whether you have a point there, and – I’m still not sure. Back in '96, the aforementioned Will Smith was in _Independence Day_, and the as yet unaforementioned Leonardo DiCaprio was in _Romeo + Juliet_ and _Marvin’s Room_, and Tom Cruise was of course in _Mission: Impossible_ and _Jerry Maguire_; in the eighteen years since, all three have been in eighteen movies apiece, which I honestly figure sounds about right for a Hollywood leading man. Smith’s not always top-billed in those – and when he is, his films repeatedly fail to break even; DiCaprio’s not always top-billed either, sure as his films repeatedly fail to double their budgets; how does Cruise, who’s been doing it longer than they have, keep doing it while averaging just as many movies? Back before DiCaprio was _The Great Gatsby_, Robert Redford was a hell of a movie star; from '66 to '94, he acted in twenty-six films; from '86 to '14, Cruise acted in thirty; Redford had fewer chances of starring in a money-losing turkey like _Havana_, but (a) that’s what happened, and (b) again, one a year still seems like a pretty good average for a Hollywood leading man. Switching gears entirely, consider Schwarzenegger: in 1986, he fails to double the budget on _Raw Deal_; and, after failing to double the budget of _Last Action Hero_ or _Jingle All The Way_ or _The 6th Day_, fails to break even with _Collateral Damage_ in 2002. But that’s not the point; the point is, IMDB puts him up on the big screen in seventeen movies over that span, just like Cruise: y’know, leading-man output. (Okay, granted: Arnold Schwarzengger gets eighteen if we count his brief appearance as Arnold Schwarzenegger in _Dave_. But then we should give Tom Cruise an eighteenth for playing himself playing Austin Powers in _Goldmember_, and where does it end?) ---
**Author:** ![winglazier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a4c791/32.png) [@winglazier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/winglazier)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/37 "2014-07-30T08:52:08Z")
Once upon a time I told someone I went to a Tom Cruise movie. Then they asked me what was it about? I said, “Tom Cruise.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/38 "2014-07-30T10:17:36Z")
> [@winglazier](#): > > Once upon a time I told someone I went to a Tom Cruise movie. Then they asked me what was it about? I said, “Tom Cruise.” _“Tom Cruise, huh? Yeah, I really liked him in that movie where he played the cocky, young guy.”_ - The Amazing Johnathan In fairness, I mentioned Arnold Schwarzenegger and Robert Redford and Will Smith in that last post, after mentioning everyone from Woody Allen to Samuel L. Jackson to Clint Eastwood in my first one; whooooole lotta movie stars have a _type,_ is what I’m saying, and Cruise occasionally ventures outside his comfort zone just like the rest. Once upon a time, John Wayne made a career out of playing John Wayne. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/39 "2015-08-31T23:01:18Z")
Bumping because, while ROGUE NATION hasn’t yet hit theaters in China – where, y’know, GHOST PROTOCOL cleared $100 million – it’s now earned back more than triple its budget, and is closing in fast on the half-a-billion mark. Just think of all the other movies that didn’t click since that last post and this one: there’s Johnny Depp failing to break even with MORTDECAI, and Chris Hemsworth failing to break even with BLACKHAT, and Joaquin Phoenix failing to break even with INHERENT VICE, and Tom Hardy failing to break even with CHILD 44, and Sean Penn failing to break even with THE GUNMAN, and Jason Statham failing to break even with WILD CARD, and Ryan Reynolds failing to break even with SELF/LESS, and I’m just getting _started,_ here; it’s _easy_ to make movies that don’t break even, it happens all the _time,_ but somehow Tom Cruise keeps doubling or tripling or quadrupling and et cetera everything he’s top-billed in, back through the decades to TOP GUN. I still can’t think of any other movie star with a winning streak that long; at this point, I’m just wondering who’s in _second_ place, is all. (Heck, who was hotter in Hollywood first thing this year than Bradley Cooper, coming off collecting Oscar nods and playing superhero when he wasn’t carrying the whole HANGOVER franchise just in time to hit it big with AMERICAN SNIPER – and then he walks into the two-by-four that was ALOHA? Happens to everyone, I guess.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811/40 "2015-09-21T23:46:25Z")
Another weekend in the Top Ten, and it’s now quadrupled its budget; the guy with a leading-man winning streak longer than Dakota Johnson’s been _alive_ has a hit that’s bigger than FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY was; it’s bigger than IRON MAN or IRON MAN 2, bigger than THOR or THOR: THE DARK WORLD; and bigger than CASINO ROYALE or QUANTUM OF SOLACE – but why compare it to anything else? This thing is suddenly within spitting distance of being _Tom Cruise’s_ biggest hit ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-lots-of-years-lots-of-starring-roles-double-your-money-back/693811.md?page=3)