One of Tom Cruise’s biggest accomplishments is Mission: Impossible, and the actor was already bringing in a large salary after the second film.
Tom Cruise returned to play Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible II in 2000 following the massive success of the first movie, and somehow, the actor earned $75 million from starring in the sequel, despite its budget of $125 million. However, there is a very reasonable explanation for Cruise’s unbelievably high salary, which is rooted in negotiations that the actor made before shooting the film. As it turns out, Cruise used his business smarts to earn more money from appearing in Mission: Impossible II than anyone ever thought he could.
Mission: Impossible II featured Cruise’s Ethan Hunt facing another impossible mission when he teamed up with Thandiwe Newton’s Nyah Nordoff-Hall, a thief who helped Ethan track down a former Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agent, Sean Ambrose. The sequel was a commercial success as it was the highest-grossing movie of 2000 and led to another film, Mission: Impossible III, six years later. Cruise has undoubtedly earned an unimaginable amount of money from his involvement in the Mission: Impossible franchise, but his ability to make $75 million from the first sequel is mind-blowing.
Why Tom Cruise Was Smart To Turn Down An Upfront Salary
While negotiating his pay for Mission: Impossible II, Tom Cruise and his agent turned down an upfront salary. This meant that instead of getting a set-in-stone salary before filming the sequel, the actor made a back-end deal that ensured he would receive a percentage of the movie’s box office profits for his role as both producer and Ethan Hunt. Ultimately, Cruise made much more for Mission: Impossible II than if he had agreed to an upfront salary.
The actor somehow had a feeling that the sequel would pull in outrageous numbers at the box office and that he should guarantee a good chunk of that money for himself. Cruise was right — Mission: Impossible II made $546 million at the box office in 2000, making it the highest-grossing film of the year. As a result, Cruise earned $75 million from starring and producing the second movie of the successful franchise.
How This Has Become A Standard Tactic For Actors In Franchise Movies
Tom Cruise is not the only actor who has used this negotiating tactic to raise one’s salary — other stars who appear in franchise films also utilize this strategy. They turn down an upfront salary, knowing that sequels typically make a lot of money at the box office, and the actors ultimately make more money from ticket sales. Cruise continues to employ this tactic following his success with Mission: Impossible II, and the actor reportedly recently earned over $100 million for Top Gun: Maverick.