Thursday, May 21, 2026

Tom Cruise: Without the “Mission Impossible” Series, He Wouldn’t Be a Movie Star

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Tom Cruise is the biggest movie star in the world. That’s what they say.

Actually, without the “Mission Impossible” series, Cruise would not be a movie star. He is definitely not an actor who can open a film. Other than the “Mission Impossible” movies, Cruise’s films open poorly and don’t hit $100 million. “Edge of Tomorrow” just made the magic number because the studio left it in theaters until it had whiskers.

The new “MI: Fallout” made $6 million last night, and may go on to have the biggest opening weekend of all the movies in the series. But basically, Cruise’s career will now be defined historically by playing Ethan Hunt, and by doing his own stunts.

This chart is from boxofficemojo.com:

 

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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