Tom Cruise is a major box office star, thanks in large part to the success of theMission: Impossiblemovies, and the action franchise has broken the same box office record multiple times for its star. Cruise began a nearly 30 year run as Ethan Hunt back in 1996 after already establishing himself as a growing box office draw.Top GunandRain Manwere pivotal films in that regard, as they set records as being Tom Cruise’s highest-grossing movies upon their respective releases in 1986 and 1988.
Tom Cruise currently hasTop Gun: Maverickto thank for giving him his highest-grossing film, as it was the first of his projects to make over $1 billion worldwide. This happened even though theMission: Impossiblefranchise has consistently performed for the star over the last few decades. As he gears up for what could be his final time playing Ethan Hunt, there are various box office records the spy/action series has broken for Cruise. In fact, some of thebestMission: Impossiblemovieshave broken the biggest of them all repeatedly during his tenure.
A Mission: Impossible Movie Has Been Tom Cruise’s Highest Grossing Film Four Different Times
Mission: Impossible Kept Breaking Its Own Record
Upon the release of 1996’sMission: Impossible, Tom Cruise was able to find a new highest-grossing movie. The spy thriller made $457 million at the box office, topping Cruise’s previous highest mark -Rain Man’s $412 million. The first installment of the franchise only held on to the record for four years, asMission: Impossible II’s box officetook its star to new heights in 2000. The John Woo-directed sequel easily surpassed the first film with a final box office gross of $549 million. It kept the record for five years untilWar of the Worldsbeat it.
$457 million
4 years
$549 million
5 years
$694 million
7 years
$791 million
Mission: Impossiblereclaimed the top spot in Tom Cruise’s filmography at the box office withMission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. The 2011 sequel made $694 million worldwide, roughly $90 million more thanWar of the Worldsmade. This record held for seven years untilMission: Impossible - Falloutmade a franchise record $791 million at the box office. That made it the fourthMission: Impossiblemovie to be Tom Cruise’s highest-grossing film. This meansMission: Impossiblemovies have achieved this box office record more often than not, which is quite impressive.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Is Unlikely To Break Tom Cruise’s Box Office Record Again
Top Gun: Maverick Is Currently The Record Holder For Tom Cruise
SinceMission: ImpossibleIIbeat the record, every other installment in the franchise has done the same for Tom Cruise.Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoningwould be next in line to break its star’s highest-grossing film mark then. The issue for the potentially finalMission: Impossiblemovie is that it now hasTop Gun: Maverick’s $1.4 billion total to beat.The Final Reckoningwould have to make roughly twice as much as the highest-grossingMission: Impossiblemovieto do that, and that’s just not something that is expected to happen at this stage.
Even ifThe Final Reckoningdoesn’t beatTop Gun: Maverickfor Tom Cruise’s record, the franchise’s history of being Tom Cruise’s top performer will stand. It remains his highest grossing franchise overall and has the box office history to show its importance in turning him into a global star.Mission: Impossibledoesn’t need to break the record a fifth time. But if it does somehow, Cruise would go out on top ifThe Final Reckoningis his Ethan Hunt swan song.
