From Gaius Bolling

During the summer of 2022, the industry declared that Tom Cruise saved cinema with the release of Top Gun: Maverick, a legacy sequel to 1986's Top Gun that helped turn Cruise into a bonfire box office draw. Top Gun: Maverick was expected to do well but no one was prepared for the phenomenon that it became. The movie cleared $1 billion at the global box office in a post-pandemic climate, received glowing reviews, and even managed to secure a Best Picture Academy Award nomination. There were many factors that made Top Gun: Maverick a success but the driving force was Cruise himself, a showman of a celebrity that seems to be the last of a dying breed. As Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning - Part 1 is set to possibly be a franchise-best earner when it's all said and done, it has become even more evident that Tom Cruise is Hollywood's last great movie star.

This wasn't always a solid notion. Following a string of financial and critical hits that made him a household name, Cruise had a rather strange and lackluster run that began when his personal beliefs were vocalized more in the media. From Scientology, to "I'm in love with Katie Holmes " couch jumping, to his views on how to treat mental illness due to his Scientologist views, the shine came off of Cruise a little bit. This is someone who had a well-manufactured persona that didn't really make waves. Once he became overexposed in the media in a negative way, it certainly hurt the reception of some of his films. Those wondering why they didn't remember Mission: Impossible III more fondly during their rewatches ahead of Dead Reckoning, just have to think back to the public opinion of Cruise at the time of the film's release. He took a severe hit in 2005 due to those aforementioned controversial events which meant that his offscreen toxicity turned off a lot of moviegoers from his films at the time.

But this is Tom Cruise we're talking about. Before all of that personal life hoopla, he was arguably the biggest actor in the world. Beginning in the 1980s, Cruise rarely stumbled in his career and he managed to star in financially commercial fare and movies that also received strong critical notices. Sometimes he managed to do both which proved that he was an above-the-title actor. By that I mean, his name above the title alone could almost guarantee box office success. He honed his movie star persona very early and he carried that through that personal misstep that began in 2005. While moviegoers may have been ready to write him off because of his public antics, Cruise knew the way to turn this around was to make it all about the movies.

The impressive part about Cruise in the years since his media hiccup is that he has molded himself into someone that is all about the joy of movies. He wants to give the audience what they paid for and then some and this has been evident as he has continued with the Mission: Impossible franchise. With each new passing film, a new death-defying stunt is publicized to boost audience interest and it always works. Whether you think he's nuts for risking his life or think he's doing it for the love of realistic cinema, the one thing you aren't talking about anymore is his personal life. He has created a barrier between Tom Cruise the man and Tom Cruise the movie star and it's pretty much universally accepted that everyone loves Tom Cruise the movie star. Instead of giving us public lectures via his personal beliefs, the only thing he's telling the audience now is that he wants them to have a blast at the movies. It's a shift in tone that has worked for him on a global level. Whether here in the States or abroad, the perception of Cruise now is all about the movies.

Cruise also knows how to sell a product. As COVID-19 kneecapped the movie industry, the actor made it clear that Top Gun: Maverick would not be sent to a streaming service to be viewed at home. This is not how the film was meant to be seen. This was made for the big screen and during every delay for the film, it was made clear in the trades that Cruise would keep delaying the film until it could be viewed properly. In its own way, it generated hype for the long-awaited sequel that may not have been there if it was released without the issues of the pandemic. From an audience point of view, Cruise made it seem like we would be soaring with him in fellow castmates while watching the film on the big screen. He would have nothing less. It's this love of cinema that has made Cruise one of the biggest voices for the theatrical experience in the industry. Top Gun: Maverick doesn't get to $1 billion globally without Cruise's movie star touch and his unwavering stance of seeing the film how it was meant to be seen. He's not only the greatest showman, but he's the greatest salesman too.

In recent years, Cruise has made it all about the work and he has done so in a way that's accessible to the audience. When audio leaked of the actor going off on the set of Dead Reckoning because someone wasn't following COVID guidelines, most didn't think he sounded crazy. Many understood the pressure that Cruise was putting on himself to get the film made without any more delays that could put people out of their jobs. This was more passionate than an off-the-rocker response which went a long way to show that the court of public opinion now viewed the actor for his work in the movies and not for anything else.

It's his desire to go above and beyond that makes him a movie star. Just recently the guy surprised fans at various screenings of Dead Reckoning and it was clear that the man had to hop on and off multiple flights in a relatively short amount of time to make this happen. At each screening, he made it clear that this movie was for them and he wanted to celebrate us all going back to the movies. He makes it a win that the fans can share. He doesn't make it just about him. Dwayne Johnson attempts to have this "for the fans" attitude but Cruise does it without a hint of ego. If Johnson wants to be a movie star on Cruise's level, that is something he will need to learn how to shed.

By making it all about the movies, Cruise stands as our last great movie star. I believe his name alone can still sell a movie and I don't think he has any intention of slowing down his attempts to top himself. There aren't a lot of actors out there like Tom Cruise and he continues to give us a look into what Hollywood used to offer: Movie stars that ruled the world.

Follow Gaius