Tom Cruise's Shocking Salary for Top Gun: Maverick Revealed

Summary

• Tom Cruise's base salary for Top Gun: Maverick was not large by any means.
• However, he received a huge percentage of the box office.
• There are other equally lucrative projects in Cruise's career history.

The sequel to the action drama about nonconformist ace pilot Pete Mitchell proved that successful follow-ups have to be both narratively and visually stunning. Top Gun: Maverick accomplished just that, garnering critical acclaim and establishing itself as one of the highest-grossing films in cinema history. It is also the most lucrative feature of Tom Cruise's long 44-year acting career, outselling films such as Mission: Impossible — Fallout, War of the Worlds, and The Last Samurai.

While many of the scenes could have been done entirely with CGI, the second installment of Top Gun would not have been as breathtakingly spectacular without the actual stunts, some of which literally put the actors' lives on the line. The movie's top-notch direction and production, masterful acting, and compelling screenplay earned it an incredible $1.496 billion at the worldwide box office, and it's no surprise that the star of Top Gun made a lot of money from it. Let's find out how much, including base salary and bonuses, Tom Cruise made for his role in Top Gun: Maverick.

How Much Did Tom Cruise Make for His Role in Top Gun: Maverick?

Tom Cruise remains one of Hollywood's most in-demand actors, and unlike many of his peers whose careers span decades, his filmography continues to grow with more high-profile projects each year. However, it is unlikely that even the upcoming untitled eighth Mission: Impossible film, scheduled for release in 2025, will be more successful than Top Gun: Maverick. After all, it ranks 12th on the list of highest-grossing films in history.

However, the base salary of Hollywood's living legend was much lower than you might think. In fact, it was only $13 million! Of course, even for an established actor like Tom Cruise, this is not a small sum, but sometimes actors have received much higher salaries for projects with much smaller budgets.

However, Cruise's main income for Top Gun: Maverick was not as an actor, but as a producer. According to various reports, the actor signed a so-called first-dollar-gross arrangement, a practice in the film industry in which the salary is determined from the first day of a film's release. The amount is calculated when theaters receive their 40% cut, but does not take into account marketing and production costs.

In Tom Cruise's case, the payout for the film was 10-20%, not including base salary. Top Gun: Maverick grossed an incredible $1.496 billion, so if you subtract 40% of that amount, the actor earned between $89 million and $179.5 million. In other words, with base salary, Tom Cruise's final paycheck could reach $192.5 million, which is not comparable to the salary of any Hollywood star in history.

List of the Biggest Paychecks of Tom Cruise's Career

As of 2024, Tom Cruise's net worth stands at an impressive $600 million, and of course, such a large fortune was not solely provided by payments for Top Gun: Maverick. Let's take a look at the list of the actor's other major salaries:

• Risky Business (1983) — $75,000
• Top Gun (1986) — $2 million
• Days of Thunder (1990) — $9 million
• Knight and Day (2010) — $11 million
• The Firm (1993) — $12 million
• A Few Good Men (1992) — $12.5 million
• Far And Away (1992) — $13 million
• Interview with the Vampire (1994) — $15 million
• Vanilla Sky (2001) — $20 million
• Valkyrie (2008) — $20 million
• Jerry Maguire (1996) — $20 million
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999) — $20 million
• Minority Report (2002) — $25 million
• The Last Samurai (2003) — $25 million
• Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015) — $25 million + bonuses
• Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018) — $28 million + bonuses
• Mission: Impossible (1996) — $70 million
• Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol (2011) — $70 million
• Mission: Impossible II (2000) — $75 million
• Mission: Impossible III (2006) — $75 million
• War of the Worlds (2005) — $100 million

Source: Celebrity Net Worth.