Has Tom Cruise's Box Office Mojo Finally Faded—Or Are Audiences Over the Stunts?

Tom Cruise is still the guy dangling off planes and jumping motorcycles into the abyss, but the box office is not saluting like it used to. One monster exception: Top Gun: Maverick. Everything else lately? Complicated.

The money part

Quick snapshot of where things stand, and why studios might be nervous even when Cruise is doing Cruise things:

• Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning: reported production budget around $400 million, worldwide gross a little over $591 million during its run. That makes it one of the most expensive movies ever, and despite the thrills, it likely lost money for the studio (per The Numbers).
• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One: lower take with $565 million worldwide on a slimmer (but still huge) $290 million budget. It ended up as the fourth-lowest-grossing entry in the franchise.
• Top Gun: Maverick: the glaring outlier. $1.4 billion worldwide on about $177 million. That is what every studio dreams of and almost nobody gets.

So why is the fuse sputtering?

Some of it is the new normal. Streaming makes staying home a pretty easy call. But a lot of it feels simpler: the stunt work keeps leveling up while the storytelling is getting heavier and more same-y. The recent Mission movies are big and busy, but also long, convoluted, and packed with exposition that doesn’t always land. You can only hang off so many vehicles before the plot needs to carry some weight too.

Is Cruise playing the same guy on repeat?

He can absolutely do range. He’s been a fanged French aristocrat in Interview with the Vampire, went full chaos as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder, and has legit dramatic credentials from Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, and Rain Man. The resume is there.

Lately, though, the vibe is consistent: the unflappable, hyper-competent underdog who somehow stays cool without trying. Ethan Hunt, Jack Reacher, Maverick — different franchises, same energy. When you can predict the arc and the emotional beats before the opening credits finish, it blunts the impact, even when the craft is pristine.

Cruise is not slowing down (at all)

"I actually said I'm going to make movies into my 80s; actually, I'm going to make them into my 100s. I will never stop. I will never stop doing action, I will never stop doing drama, comedy films — I'm excited."

He told THR he plans to keep going for decades, and yes, he still wants to do his own stunts when he’s past 80. On Mission: Impossible specifically, he said the work has been exceptional for what it has taught him about storytelling, life, leadership, character, and the entire process of filmmaking — and that he simply loves making movies.

What might reset the groove

Next up is an untitled black comedy from Alejandro G. Inarritu. That pairing could be exactly the shake-up Cruise needs: still ambitious, but with a different flavor than another life-or-death gadget chase.

Bottom line: the stunts are jaw-dropping, but the audience is asking for more than just altitude and velocity. If the storytelling tightens and the characters surprise us again, the numbers will probably follow.

In the meantime, the Mission: Impossible series and the Top Gun films are streaming on Paramount+. Do you think Cruise needs to switch gears, or is the current formula still your thing?