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All Tom Cruise movies, in order

It’s difficult to pinpoint what Tom Cruise really means to the history of blockbuster cinema, not just for his astounding body of work, but also for the range he puts on display, whether it be historical epics, action blockbusters, or even sci-fi spectacles.

With four Academy Award nominations, a career spanning five decades, and movies grossing over $11.5 billion worldwide, Tom Cruise is a titan of Hollywood and all it stands for . In fact, one could go so far as to suggest that as far as movie stars go, they don’t make them like this anymore. Cruise has the charisma and looks that would make any actor a commercial darling, but his acting chops and infamously crazy stunts also make him stand out.

The legendary thespian can be an action hero in a Mission: Impossible movie and then follow it up with a heart-wrenching performance like Born on the Fourth of July . He can be the lovable Jerry Maguire and then be as chilling as Vincent is in 2004’s Collateral . You name the role, and the chameleon that he is, Tom Cruise will be there to give his 100% and make it work.

But how many movies has he been in, and how many of them have you seen? Let’s take a look at Tom Cruise’s filmography to get a better understanding of his enviable career.

All the movies Tom Cruise has starred in, broken up by decade

The beloved Hollywood icon began his work with Endless Love and Taps , both released in 1981, but his most significant role from that era undoubtedly goes to Maverick in Top Gun .

• Endless Love (1981)
• Taps (1981)
• The Outsiders (1983)
• Losin’ It (1983)
• Risky Business (1983)
• All the Right Moves (1983)
• Legend (1985)
• Top Gun (1986)
• The Color of Money (1986)
• Cocktail (1986)
• Rain Man (1988)
• Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

Now a genuine movie star, Tom Cruise had his pick of projects, which led to possibly the best decade of his career and the main reason he is now a household name all over the world. Outstanding performances from A Few Good Men , Jerry Maguire , and Eyes Wide Shut alongside the start of his Mission: Impossible saga make the Tom Cruise movies from the 1990s the most enjoyable ones to watch.

• Days of Thunder (1990)
• Far and Away (1992)
• A Few Good Men (1992)
• The Firm (1993)
• Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
• Mission: Impossible (1996)
• Jerry Maguire (1996)
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
• Magnolia (1999)

Tom Cruise continued his 90s success into the 2000s with the critically acclaimed Vanilla Sky , the blockbuster sci-fi hit Minority Report, and the brilliant historical epic The Last Samurai .

• Mission: Impossible II (2000)
• Vanilla Sky (2001)
• Minority Report (2002)
• Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
• The Last Samurai (2003)
• Collateral (2004)
• War of the Worlds (2005)
• Mission: Impossible III (2006)
• Lions for Lambs (2007)
• Tropic Thunder (2008)
• Valkyrie (2008)

As Hollywood moved away from the idea of a global movie star and into the age of franchises like Marvel, actors like Tom Cruise became a rare commodity in the industry. Cruise still had the pull to rope in audiences, which he combined with his vast experience in producing, turning Mission: Impossible into a top-tier action franchise once again. He also starred in the now-cult classic Edge of Tomorrow . Duds like 2017’s The Mummy and two Jack Reacher movies were inevitable, of course, but he still ended the decade on a high note.

• Knight and Day (2010)
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
• Rock of Ages (2012)
• Jack Reacher (2012)
• Oblivion (2013)
• Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
• Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
• Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
• The Mummy (2017)
• American Made (2017)
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Well into his fifth decade as a professional actor, Tom Cruise is still going strong. His one-man mission to make a Top Gun sequel was a massive success, grossing nearly $1.5 billion worldwide and garnering a host of new fans, not to mention thawing the industry out of a Covid-induced daze.

These are Tom Cruise’s movies in the ongoing decade so far, discernibly lacking variety as well as multitude:

• Top Gun: Maverick (2021)
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
• Untitled eighth Mission: Impossible film (2025)

That’s going to be it for Tom Cruise’s filmography, but since the star is showing no sign of slowing down, this list is only bound to get longer.

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Birth Name: Thomas Cruise Mapother IV

Birth Place: Syracuse, New York, United States

Profession Actor, producer

Subject (person only)

Screenwriter, executive producer, production designer.

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‘top gun: maverick’ producer jerry bruckheimer reflects on his first oscar nomination: “anybody who is in our business would love to be honored by their peers”.

The legendary producer brought one of Tom Cruise’s iconic characters back to the screen — and audiences back to theaters — with the rip-roaring sequel to the 1988 blockbuster.

By Tyler Coates

Tyler Coates

Awards Editor

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After decades making movies, this is your first Oscar nom. Was this always a career goal for you?

I think anybody who is in our business would love to be honored by their peers, people whom we make movies with, people we make movies for and people who understand our business. So it’s really an honor. And, you know, I’m not young anymore. I don’t have many more shots.

I read an interview in which you said you try very hard not to anticipate a movie’s success while you are making it. With Top Gun: Maverick , when did you sit back and say to yourself, “We pulled it off”?

I think the Sunday after it opened. It’s all about the audience. We can fall in love with a movie and nobody else likes it. We make them for audiences; we make them for people to be entertained and educated and take their troubles away for a couple hours — forget about their kids and the neighbor and their mother-in-law and all those things that you think about. [Producing partner] Don Simpson used to say we were in the transportation business: We transport you from one place to another. Top Gun: Maverick did that.

It’s been seen as a savior for the theatrical experience. What about this film connected with audiences and made them want to return to theaters to see it?

There was obviously a large gap of time in between Top Gun and Maverick , and, as you said, nostalgia for the original played a part in the sequel’s success. But did you feel like you couldn’t simply rely on that emotion, that you still had to do something forward-thinking and propulsive?

We certainly gave nods to the first movie because it was a cherished film. And it’s a movie that propelled Tom’s career into superstardom around the world. And Joe Kosinski honored [the late Top Gun director] Tony Scott in the way he shot it — he certainly captured that. And that’s part of the style, the way Claudio [shot it]. The initial audience that came in to see it was a little skeptical because they loved the first one so much. But as soon as that first gong [in Harold Faltermeyer’s score] went off and the jets took off, they relaxed and said, “OK, I think we’ll be in for a ride.” And they were.

The first film had a major impact on the home video market. Did that influence the way you produced films, in the sense that you started thinking more about how differently it would look at home on TV?

Not at all. We make movies for the big screen and try to make them as the best visual, sound and dramatic experiences that we can give an audience. And that translates really well, obviously, to other mediums.

How important is the theatrical experience for you personally? Was going to the theater what made you want to make movies in the first place?

You not only brought back Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer, but you have a fresh class of young actors playing a new cohort of Top Gun pilots. What were the challenges in finding the right people for those roles?

There’s a lot of talent in this town, and you’ve got to sift through it and find the right ones. Plus, they were put through physical challenges to make this movie. Tom said they all had to be able to get in an F-18 and be able to have what they call G tolerance, which means they had to go through three or four months of training in various different jets to be able to withstand the seven or eight G forces they undertook while they made the movie. Those expressions on their faces were all real. They learned a lot, and some of them became pilots afterward. But we had actors walk in and say, “You’re going to do this on a gimbal, right? Because I don’t like to fly.” You have to give real, I guess, awards to the actors that went through this whole process because it was grueling.

It does sound like quite the commitment. Even just being able to evoke emotion in a performance while flying a jet and being filmed in such tight spaces sounds like an extreme challenge.

There’s frequent debate about the types of films that are honored by the Academy, with some feeling like it prioritizes artier fare over popular films, but this year’s best picture lineup includes blockbusters. Why do you think Maverick was able to achieve this honor while other films like it failed to do so?

It’s a movie that brought an audience — particularly an older audience — back to theaters. And it gives hope to anyone [that] they’ll be able to make movies that go in theaters. It was one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, so that’s another plus. It was the highest-grossing movie of the year. And it applauds Hollywood — it applauds our technicians, our actors, our writers and our directors, who do the best and make movies for the world.

Interview edited for length and clarity .

This story first appeared in a Feb. stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe .

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Tom Cruise Filmography

1. Endless Love

3. The Outsiders

4. Losin' It

5. Risky Business

6. All the Right Moves

9. The Color of Money

10. Cocktail

11. Rain Man

12. Born on the Fourth of July

13. Days of Thunder

14. Far and Away

15. A Few Good Men

16. Fallen Angels

17. The Firm

18. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

19. Mission: Impossible

20. Jerry Maguire

21. Without Limits

22. Eyes Wide Shut

23. Magnolia

24. Mission: Impossible II

25. Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures

26. The Others

27. Vanilla Sky

28. Space Station 3D

29. Minority Report

30. Austin Powers in Goldmember

32. Shattered Glass

33. The Last Samurai

34. Collateral

35. War of the Worlds

36. Elizabethtown

37. Ask the Dust

38. Mission: Impossible III

39. Lions for Lambs

40. Tropic Thunder

41. Valkyrie

42. Knight and Day

43. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

44. Rock of Ages

45. Jack Reacher

46. Oblivion

47. Edge of Tomorrow

48. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

49. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

50. The Mummy

51. American Made

52. Mission: Impossible - Fallout

53. Top Gun: Maverick

54. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

More to explore, recently viewed.

Tom Cruise's 15 Highest-Grossing Films

From legacy sequels to intense spy thrillers, Tom Cruise is quickly proving himself to be one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood today.

With Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning Part One making a respectable introduction at the worldwide box office, Tom Cruise is quickly reasserting himself as one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood today. The new spy thriller now looks to join the many other massive hits in Cruise's celebrated acting career.

Thanks to popular hits like the Top Gun movies and well-regarded franchises like Mission: Impossible , Tom Cruise knows how to turn a film into a financial success. According to Box Office Mojo, several of his films have been particularly successful, earning incredible profits at the worldwide box office.

Updated on January 19, 2024 by David Giatras: As Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part One arrives on Paramount+ shortly, it is a reminder that movie audiences have seen Tom Cruise grace the silver screen for many memorable films. A certified movie star and bankable name at the box office, Cruise has been in some very profitable movies in his decades-long career.

15 Rain Man (1988)

$354,825,435.

After a selfish L.A. yuppie learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother in Ohio that he didn't know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.

10 Biggest Questions Left After Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning Part One

Rain Man is a 1988 film following Tom Cruise's Charlie Babbit, the supposed heir to his father's fortune until he discovers his long-lost brother Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), who has savant syndrome. After discovering that Raymond is set to inherit their father's money, Charlie does his best to get legal custody of his brother--and thereby possession of his newfound fortune.

Against a moderate budget estimated to be around $25 million, Rain Man made over $350 million at the worldwide box office , becoming a phenomenal success. The film went on to win four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and has since become a staple of American cinema.

14 Top Gun (1986)

$357,288,178.

As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.

Top Gun stars Cruise as Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a Navy pilot who trains at the United States Navy's Fighter Weapons School. As Maverick competes to be top in the class, usually competing against Iceman (Val Kilmer), he strikes up a relationship with one of his instructors, Charlie Blackwood (Kelly McGillis).

Top Gun is one of Cruise's most iconic roles in his filmography and continued the impressive run that he had in the 1980s. It also had a re-release in 2021 in anticipation of Top Gun: Maverick . The film ended up being a hit and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. In the film, Cruise uttered one of the most famous lines in movie history: "I feel the need, the need for speed!"

13 Minority Report (2002)

$358,372,926, minority report.

The franchise combines elements of tech noir, whodunit, thriller, and science fiction genres, as well as a traditional chase film, as the main protagonist is accused of a crime he has not committed and becomes a fugitive.

In Minority Report , Cruise plays Precrime Chief John Anderton in a future world where police can stop crimes before they take place. Anderton is then framed for murder and must go on the run to prove his innocence with the help of a pre-cog, Agatha (Samantha Morton).

Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film grossed $358.3 million on a $102 million budget, which provided Cruise with another hit on his hands. While the film was successful and left audiences wanting more, no sequel ever came to be. A television series based on the film was released in 2015 with no involvement from Cruise and was canceled after just 10 episodes.

12 Edge Of Tomorrow (2014)

$370,541,256, edge of tomorrow.

A soldier fighting aliens gets to relive the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies.

Warner Bros. Pushing for Edge of Tomorrow Sequel After Tom Cruise Deal

Edge of Tomorrow follows Major William Cage (Cruise), a soldier who relives the same day over and over again while fighting aliens who have invaded Earth. As Cage relives each day, his skills get better and better as he looks for a way to defeat the invaders.

The film grossed an impressive $370.5 million worldwide but had a hefty budget of $178 million, which hurt its returns. A sequel has languished in development hell ever since, but Cruise recently signed an overall deal with Warner Brothers to develop franchise films, and it is rumored that a sequel to Edge of Tomorrow could be one of those films.

11 Mission: Impossible III (2006)

$398,479,497, mission: impossible iii.

IMF agent Ethan Hunt comes into conflict with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer who threatens his life and his fiancée in response.

Mission: Impossible III continued the adventures of Agent Ethan Hunt, Cruise's signature role. Hunt must return to duty after retiring from IMF fieldwork and goes up against a sadistic arms dealer in Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). The film was the franchise debuts of Simon Pegg and Michelle Monaghan.

The film currently stands as the lowest-grossing film in the Mission: Impossible series, only grossing $398.4 million at the box office. Despite this, it was still considered a great summer blockbuster movie that only proved that Cruise had a box office star quality to get viewers into seats at movie theaters.

10 The Mummy (2017)

$409,953,905.

An ancient Egyptian princess is awakened from her crypt beneath the desert, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.

The Mummy is a disappointing action movie remake based on the Brendan Fraser franchise of the same name. Starring Tom Cruise as a grave robber who accidentally awakens an ancient spirit, The Mummy was intended to kick off an entire cinematic universe revolving around Universal Studios' monster characters.

Although The Mummy is among Tom Cruise's highest-earning films, its worldwide total of just over $400 million was far from enough to justify its massive budget. As such, The Mummy became a one-and-done film, leaving any sequel ideas on the table and bringing an end to Universal's Dark Universe before it has even really begun.

9 The Last Samurai (2003)

$454,627,263, the last samurai, tom cruise's 10 best performances.

The Last Samurai follows Tom Cruise's Nathan Algren, a Civil War veteran who has become disillusioned with his country after experiencing the horrors of war. After being sent to Japan as a mercenary, Algren is captured by a village run by samurai. The samurai train him in their ways and eventually accept him as one of their own.

Despite the controversies around the film, The Last Samurai has generally been considered to be one of Tom Cruise's best films . Accordingly, the movie is also one of his most successful, earning over $450 million worldwide, an impressive number even unadjusted for inflation. At the time, The Last Samurai was Cruise's highest-grossing project outside of the Mission: Impossible movies, helping the actor expand his reach beyond a single franchise.

8 Mission: Impossible (1996)

$457,696,391, mission: impossible.

A veteran Green Beret is forced by a cruel Sheriff and his deputies to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.

Tom Cruise's first outing as Ethan Hunt happened almost thirty years ago in 1996's Mission: Impossible . The film is set in the same continuity as the television series of the same name. The movie follows a cast of mostly new characters, several of whom became mainstays in the incredibly successful franchise that followed.

Mission: Impossible was an unmitigated financial success, earning over $450 million at the worldwide box office despite mixed critical reviews. The film's high gross led to the development of a sequel, leading to one of the most celebrated spy thriller franchises of all time.

7 Mission: Impossible II (2000)

$546,388,108, mission: impossible ii.

IMF agent Ethan Hunt is sent to Sydney to find and destroy a genetically modified disease called "Chimera".

10 Best Characters in Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning Part One

Four years after the original film became a hit, Mission: Impossible II saw the return of Tom Cruise's IMF agent for yet another high-stakes mission. This time, Ethan Hunt is recruited to locate and defeat a rogue IMF agent, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), before he unleashes a deadly virus into the world.

Despite generally worse reviews, Mission: Impossible II earned almost $100 million more than its predecessor. The sequel's success helped solidify Tom Cruise's place as a bankable action star. This also lead to the production of yet another installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise, which was quickly proving to be immensely popular.

6 Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

$567,535,383, mission: impossible - dead reckoning part one.

Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part One follows Ethan Hunt as he and his team work to track down the Entity, a powerful AI, before it falls into the wrong hands. Hunt's mission proves to be his most dangerous yet, and has some surprising ties to his past.

This entry grossed $567.5 million at the box office, and while many films would dream of those kinds of numbers, it proved to be a letdown for the franchise. The previous three entries all grossed over $680 million, and it did not help that the film's budget was a whopping $219 million. Its release during the summer of 2023 was also hurt by the "Barbenheimer" cultural phenomenon, with both Barbie and Oppenheimer grossing $1.4 billion and $955 million at the box office, respectively.

5 War Of The Worlds (2005)

$603,873,119, war of the worlds (2005).

Directed by Steven Spielberg, a sudden and terrifying alien invasion challenges a fractured family's bond as they navigate a world thrown into mayhem. The narrative centers on a father's resolve to keep his children safe while civilization collapses around them.

Based on H.G. Wells' seminal novel of the same name, War of the Worlds is a film by director Steven Spielberg following an alien invasion of Earth. Tom Cruise plays a working man who fights to save his family as the world crumbles around them.

With the combined power of Spielberg and Cruise, War of the Worlds became a powerhouse at the box office, earning over $600 million worldwide. The film was the highest-grossing entry in Cruise's filmography at the time and remained so for several years thereafter. Despite its unadulterated financial success, War of the Worlds never received any sequels, spinoffs, or reboots.

4 Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015)

$682,716,636, mission: impossible - rogue nation.

Ethan and his team take on their most impossible mission yet when they have to eradicate an international rogue organization as highly skilled as they are and committed to destroying the IMF.

Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation kicked off a new era of the franchise as it became more serialized than previous installments. It also introduced a core team and a recurring villain in the Mission: Impossible franchise . The film is also notable for being the first installment of the franchise to be directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who has since become one of Tom Cruise's most frequent collaborators.

Rogue Nation was very successful, with a worldwide box office total of nearly $690 million. Although it didn't earn quite as much as its immediate predecessor it still brought in an impressive haul. The fifth Mission: Impossible movie became a template for all future installments, each of which would have McQuarrie return to direct and write.

3 Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol (2011)

$694,713,380, mission: impossible - ghost protocol.

The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.

10 Major Characters The Mission Impossible Franchise Needs To Bring Back

Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol began the evolution from average action movie to international sensation. Director Brad Bird helped to deliver one of Tom Cruise's best films yet. The film follows Ethan Hunt as he runs from his own agency after being framed for a terrorist attack.

With nearly a $700 million haul, Ghost Protocol proved that audiences still had an appetite for the Mission: Impossible franchise, even four films in. The film became the highest-grossing entry in the franchise as well as in Tom Cruise's career until it was surpassed in 2018 by Mission: Impossible -- Fallout .

2 Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018)

$791,657,398, mission impossible: fallout.

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong.

Mission: Impossible -- Fallout is the sixth entry in Tom Cruise's signature franchise and the second installment to feature writer-director Christopher McQuarrie. The film follows Ethan Hunt and his team as they uncover a terrorist scheme to free the villainous Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) and set off a series of nuclear attacks around the world.

Not only is Fallout considered to be one of the best Mission: Impossible movies yet, but it is also currently the most profitable. The film's success led Paramount to greenlight two additional sequels, Dead Reckoning Part One and Part Two , with Cruise and McQuarrie both returning.

1 Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

$1,495,696,292, top gun: maverick.

After thirty years, Maverick is still pushing the envelope as a top naval aviator, but must confront ghosts of his past when he leads TOP GUN's elite graduates on a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it.

More than thirty years after the original film, Top Gun: Maverick brings back Tom Cruise's titular fighter pilot for another adventure. In the 2022 movie, Maverick returns as an instructor at Top Gun. This is where he helped a group of recruits hone their skills in preparation for a dangerous mission against their country's enemies.

Top Gun: Maverick was a runaway success, earning more than four times the original film's box office total. The 2022 film is currently Tom Cruise's highest-grossing film by far and the actor's only project to break $1 billion. Even more importantly, Maverick is often credited as a major factor in the film industry's recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing audiences back to theaters in droves.

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30 of the Most Notable Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked From Worst to Best

Released on May 27, Top Gun: Maverick has not only cemented Tom Cruise as a must-see action star, but broken multiple box office records, too. As of now, it’s the sixth highest-grossing film domestically , which means it’s beat out James Cameron’s Titanic (1997). Outside of the U.S., the long-awaited is also a huge success, holding steady in 12th place on the list of highest-grossing films globally. 

If you missed Top Gun: Maverick in theaters, you can now stream it from the comfort of home — and add to the film’s landmark success. After all, it’s also the first Tom Cruise movie to cross $1 billion in earnings. With all of this in mind, we’re taking a moment to celebrate the actor’s most successful — and call out his least successful — outings. 

And while Cruise has an extensive filmography, we’ve narrowed it down to 30 notable films — some great, some downright awful. Let’s start with the bad. 

The 15 Worst Tom Cruise Movies

30. losin’ it (1983).

With only a dismal 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, Losin’ It holds the honor of being the worst Tom Cruise film on our roundup. One of the actor’s earliest movies, this teen comedy is about four high school buddies who travel to Mexico with just one goal in mind: lose their virginities before the trip is over. Boring and unfunny, Losin’ It ’s position here shouldn’t come as a surprise. 

29. Cocktail (1988)

Brian Flanagan, a young student craving a high-paying job, needs money for a business degree, so he decides to take a bartending job in Jamaica. The problem? Well, not much happens in this one — and the silly end makes Cocktail even more hopeless. Called shallow and dry by critics, audiences gave it a dismal 9% rotten score. 

28. The Mummy (2017)

While trying to top the Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz classic that was The Mummy (1999) — and even The Mummy Returns (2001) — is a ridiculous premise, Universal sure tried. At the time, the studio wanted to prepare an Avengers-esque squad of classic movie monsters.

That’s right, the likes of the Invisible Man and the Mummy were going to team up for the studios’ “Dark Universe” — Universal’s own interconnected cinematic world — but… that plan quickly fell apart. And a lot had to do with the atrocious The Mummy (2017), which couldn’t deliver scares nor campy humor. 

27. Rock of Ages (2012)

Adapted from the popular Broadway musical of the same name, Rock of Ages celebrates hair metal bands. Here, Cruise plays the frontman of a fictional metal band called Arsenal. While the production costs crossed $75 million, Rock of Ages made less than $60 million worldwide, proving that not every musical should make the jump to the silver screen. 

26. Lions for Lambs (2007)

Often regarded as Cruise’s most boring movie, Lions for Lambs is a two-hour class on the evils of war. Even convincing performances from Meryl Streep and Robert Redford can’t save this one. Honestly, there’s really not much more to say about Lions for Lambs — and that kind of tracks. 

25. The Last Samurai (2003)

While The Last Samurai might have good scores from critics, it ranks among one of the worst Tom Cruise movies because of its premise. In many ways, it’s the ultimate white savior film, following problematic plot beats with such precision that, when described, they feel like something out of a parody of white savior films. 

24. Legend (1985)

In this forgettable fantasy film from the ‘80s, Tom Cruise’s character heads on a mission to save the world’s unicorns. There’s also a character called The Lord of Darkness, so we’ll let you assume just how trite it is on your own. The only good things on display here are the makeup, and, at the time Legend came out, the special effects.

23. Vanilla Sky (2001)

Starring big-name actors like Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Kurt Russell, Vanilla Sky seems like it should be a winner based on its ensemble cast alone. However, the incoherent conclusion and Cruise’s egocentric character made this unlucky remake of the Spanish movie Abre Los Ojos ( Open Your Eyes ), which came out just four or so years earlier, hard to watch.

22. Far and Away (1992)

Coming out on the heels of blockbusters like Top Gun and critically acclaimed movies like Rain Man — that one earned Cruise his Oscar — Far and Away was a pretty far cry from Cruise’s good fare. The story of Irish immigrants hoping to make it to America, the movie co-stars Cruise’s then-wife, Oscar winner Nicole Kidman. But even the movie star appeal couldn’t help Far and Away make back its budget. 

21. Mission: Impossible II (2000)

One of the least impressive Mission: Impossible films, this one sees Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) being sent to Sydney alongside Nyah Hall (Thandiwe Newton) to save the world from a genetically modified disease known as “Chimera”. Although the action scenes are solid, it’s not as fresh or fun as other Cruise action flicks. 

20. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

While the first Jack Reacher was a pretty compelling movie full of fun, adrenaline-pumping action sequences, the sequel was pretty lukewarm — at best. In Tom Cruise movies of this ilk, the star is pretty dependable, but the movie itself lacked excitement, making it something we’ll Never Go Back to again.

19. Oblivion (2013)

The sci-fi drama Oblivion was another pretty unfortunate attempt for Cruise to find his footing again in the 2010s. Predictable with painfully long scenes, this Tom Cruise movie is watchable — it co-stars the likes of Morgan Freeman and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau ( Game of Thrones ), after all — but the most memorable part of it is the M83 soundtrack. 

18. Valkyrie (2008)

Set in 1944, Valkyrie dramatizes German officers’ attempt to assassinate Hitler. There’s definitely some potential in the premise. Sure, Inglourious Basterds (2009) was more of a comedic take — and it had the added benefit of centering Jewish characters as the heroes — but its success shows there could’ve been something going for this historical thriller. Instead, it’s pretty unremarkable and the performances are bland. 

17. Knight and Day (2010)

With co-stars like Oscar winner Viola Davis, Paul Dano, Cameron Diaz and Peter Sarsgaard, you’d think this Tom Cruise outing would be better than it is — and yet… It’s pretty clear Cruise and Diaz shouldn’t team up on screen again, we’d say.

Yes, they have some real charm and chemistry — and that’s why this isn’t lower on the list — but this action-comedy movie feels like an international adventure (with a reluctant sidekick) that you’ve seen before. 

16. Interview with the Vampire (1994)

The cast of Interview with the Vampire , which is based on the acclaimed Anne Rice novel of the same name, seems like a ‘90s dream come true. You’ve not only got Tom Cruise, but Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas and a young Kirsten Dunst. While this one is certainly something you can throw on, the actual casting choices are strange. 

“The Tom Cruise casting is so bizarre, it’s almost impossible to imagine how it’s going to work,” Rice said in an interview with Movieline ahead of the film’s release. Although Rice would go on to praise Cruise and the film — even though she wanted Pitt and Cruise to swap roles — this is kind of a love-it-or-hate-it adaptation for book loyalists , making it the best of the worst for us. 

The 15 Best Tom Cruise Movies

15. american made (2017).

Barry Seal, a pilot who’s hired by the CIA, finds himself in charge of one of the greatest secret operations in U.S. history. That’s the premise behind American Made , a surprisingly watchable film that brings with it a kind of mile-a-minute verve.

Not to mention, Cruise gets to showcase a kind of charisma and levity here that he hadn’t in awhile, given the laundry list of Jack Reacher and Mission: Impossible fare he was making at the time. 

14. The Color of Money (1986)

Although Top Gun was the hit of the year in 1986, The Color of Money still stood out from the pack thanks to incredible performances from Cruise and Paul Newman, who finally nabbed an Oscar for his work. While audiences weren’t totally in love with the movie, critics had other thoughts, calling the Martin Scorsese film a “joy” to watch .

13. Top Gun (1986)

Despite receiving mixed feedback from critics — believe it or not, this classic has a rotten score from critics on the Tomatometer — Top Gun grossed a stunning $357 million globally against its production budget of $15 million.

And decades after its debut, Top Gun ’s incredible aerial footage, stellar cast and killer soundtrack help it more than hold up. If someone asks you to name a Tom Cruise movie, odds are you’ll say this one. 

12. Magnolia (1999)

This epic drama depicts multiple characters’ stories as they search for love, meaning and forgiveness. In Magnolia , Tom Cruise undoubtedly gives us one of the best performances of his career.

And while the film is ambitious and winding, it stays captivating thanks to the great cast — Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman, to name a few — and some genuinely compelling threads. 

11. Collateral (2004)

A dark thriller, Collateral stars Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith and Mark Ruffalo — and if that doesn’t convince you to watch it, maybe the premise will. The movie tells the story of a cab driver and a contract killer; the driver, Max (Foxx), realizes he’s been driving a hitman, Vincent (Cruise), from target to target. 

Will Max be able to stop Vincent from killing off the last witness on his list? And, more importantly, can he do so without adding his name to Vincent’s kill list? Full of excitement, this stylish modern noir is a must-watch. 

10. The Outsiders (1983)

One of Cruise’s first feature films, The Outsiders is an adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s coming-of-age novel of the same name. While it wasn’t as initially as successful as director Francis Ford Coppola had hoped, The Outsiders has since gained a cult following. While Cruise’s role is smaller here, he’s part of a truly stellar cast — Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillion, just to name a few — and we still think about that iconic backflip .

9. Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015)

Were you waiting for one of the Mission: Impossible films to pop up? While the original is certainly a good film, some of the more recent entries in the series raise the stakes to a new level. Rogue Nation is a thrilling adventure, anchored not just by Tom Cruise, but by the brilliant Rebecca Ferguson. There are some unforeseen plot twists here and there, and it’s anything but traditional when it comes to the onscreen romance. 

8. Jerry Maguire (1996)

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Jerry Maguire here. It’s even made our list of the 20 greatest football movies of all time . Here, Cruise plays the titular character — a sports agent whose client is Cuba Gooding Jr.’s Rod Tidwell, an NFL wide receiver.

But this isn’t a one-note film; it’s also a rom-com of sorts, and the chemistry between Cruise and Renee Zellwegger is fun to watch. From iconic lines like “You had me at hello” to “Show me the money!”, Jerry Maguire might also be the most quotable film on this list. 

7. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick — and the last movie of his impressive career — Eyes Wide Shut has been categorized as an erotic thriller, but it also has some Lynchian elements that keep us revisiting this one time and again. Here, Cruise plays a doctor who gets into an argument with his wife (Nicole Kidman — the two leads were still together in real life while filming) about fidelity. 

After Nicole’s character admits to having some unfulfilled desires, Cruise’s character leaves, having a string of decidedly surreal (and at times cult-y) sexual encounters. Eyes Wide Shut remains a must-watch film for the ways it dissects the connection between anonymity and sex — and the way that we can still be strangers to those closest to us. 

6. Mission: Impossible—Fallout (2018)

With an impressive 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, Mission: Impossible — Fallout is definitely the best Mission: Impossible movie. With its stunning visuals, incredible action sequences, and solid performances, the film — and director Christopher McQuarrie — managed to top previous installments. This is, hands down, one of the greatest action movies of all time. 

And while we won’t be adding yet another Mission: Impossible to our list here, we will give a shout out to the formidable Ghost Protocol (2011). 

5. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Edge of Tomorrow — which boasts a telling tagline: Live. Die. Repeat. — is an original, pulse-pounding narrative about a soldier who’s trying to save the Earth from an alien invasion. After dying rather quickly within the first moments of the film, Cruise’s Major William Cage realizes he’s stuck in a time loop. 

Although he dies only to be revived every time the brutal fight takes place, he’s also getting stronger each time. Co-starring Emily Blunt, Edge of Tomorrow is a dynamic sci-fi adventure that’s as compelling as it is inventive. 

4. A Few Good Men (1992)

This traditional courtroom drama is straightforward in concept: a few good people do the right thing, putting morals over profits. Full of memorable lines and career-high performances from Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore, A Few Good Men is a classic — and one of the best Tom Cruise movies around. 

3. Risky Business (1983)

When his parents take off for a few days, high school student Joel Goodsen (Cruise) is, naturally, looking to have some fun. As you’d expect, things quickly get out of hand. One of Cruise’s best early performances, Risky Business helped lay the groundwork for an incredibly successful (and long) career. Not to mention, it gave us this iconic dance scene . 

2. Minority Report (2002)

Minority Report isn’t just one of Tom Cruise’s best movies, it’s one of the best films of all time. Directed by Steven Spielberg, it tells the story of an officer who’s accused of a murder he hasn’t yet committed.

A mystery-thriller film with all the sci-fi inventiveness you’d expect from a Philip K. Dick adaptation, this meditation on free will versus determinism is well worth your time. 

1. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

We couldn’t dedicate the first spot on this list to any other movie but Top Gun: Maverick . While it’s easy to give a nostalgia vote to the top spots on similar lists of actor’s greatest films, Maverick kind of has the best of both worlds: it’s a throwback, but it’s also fresh.

The aerial tricks are epic. The adrenaline boost you’ll feel watching it is unparalleled. Without a doubt, Top Gun: Maverick top-tier when it comes to Tom Cruise movies.

Tom Cruise Movies That Get an Honorable Mention

Both of these films undeniably shaped Tom Cruise’s career, but it’s difficult for us to rank them given the way certain characters are portrayed. In both instances, there’s ableism, and both movies likely perpetuate harm by helping to shape society’s views of disability and autism. 

Rain Man (1988) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

Born on the Fourth of July is a movie that’s hard to critique; it’s based on someone’s lived experiences, after all. At the same time, it deals with internalized ableism in a way that’s not really given too nuanced a look. Directed by Oliver Stone ( Platoon ), the film tells the story of Ron Kovic, a soldier eager to fight in the Vietnam War and who becomes paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the fighting. 

Often described by critics as an exploration of what it means to have one’s “manhood taken away” , there’s no denying the inherently ableist stance there. While a character experiencing internalized ableism should certainly have their story told on screen, this one doesn’t seem to realize the harm it’s feeding into. Not to mention, having an able-bodied actor playing the lead role in a film about a disabled character isn’t great. 

On a similar note, we have Rain Man , the 1988 Oscar-winning film that stars Cruise and Dustin Hoffman as estranged brothers. Hoffman’s character marks one of the first on-screen depictions of an autistic person. “Released [over] 30 years ago… Rain Man begins when self-centered hustler Charlie Babbitt (Cruise) discovers he has an older brother, Raymond (Hoffman) — an autistic savant who has inherited all of their father’s $3 million fortune,” The Guardian notes of the movie’s plot. 

As you might imagine, Rain Man — which did well at the box office, won Oscars and became a widely discussed pop cultural reference — has an aftermath that’s damaging to autism awareness. It may not portray the autistic character in a “bad” light, but it certainly reiterated harmful stereotypes, shaping how generations see autistic people. Again, Cruise might give a notable performance here, but the movie’s legacy remains complicated. 

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Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group And Tom Cruise To Jointly Develop And Produce Original And Franchise Theatrical Films Starring Cruise Beginning In 2024 Under Newly Formed Strategic Partnership

January 9, 2024 ·

Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group’s Co-Chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca & Pam Abdy and Tom Cruise today announced they will jointly develop and produce original and franchise theatrical films starring Cruise in 2024 under a new strategic partnership between Cruise and Warner Bros. Discovery. Cruise and his production company will have offices on the Warner Bros. Discovery lot in Burbank.

The partnership marks a return to Warner Bros. for Cruise, whose storied filmography with the studio includes  Edge of Tomorrow, Rock of Ages, The Last Samurai, Eyes Wide Shut, Interview with the Vampire, Risky Business ,  The Outsiders , and New Line’s Magnolia .

Said De Luca and Abdy, “We are thrilled to be working with Tom, an absolute legend in the film industry. Our vision, from day one, has been to rebuild this iconic studio to the heights of its glory days, and, in fact, when we first sat down with David Zaslav to talk about joining the Warner Bros. Discovery team, he said to us, ‘We are on a mission to bring Warner Bros. back – we have the best resources, storytelling IP, and talent in the business – and we need to bring Tom Cruise back to Warner Bros!’ Today, that becomes a reality and we are one step closer to achieving our ambition. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Tom back to Warner Bros. and look forward to bringing more of his genius to life on screen in the years ahead.”

Said Cruise, “I have great respect and admiration for David, Pam, Mike, and the entire team at Warner Bros. Discovery and their commitment to movies, movie fans, and the theatrical experience.  I look forward to making great movies together!”

Tom Cruise is a global cultural icon who has made an immeasurable impact on cinema by creating some of the most memorable characters of all time. Having achieved extraordinary success as an actor, producer, and philanthropist in a career spanning over five decades, Cruise is a three-time Oscar ®  nominee whose films have earned nearly $13 billion in worldwide box office—an incomparable accomplishment. 

Fueled by a lifetime goal to entertain audiences around the world, Cruise has worked over the last 40 years to produce and star in movies that stand the test of time.  As a result, he has played a leading role in numerous legendary films such  as Top Gun, Jerry Maguire, Risky Business, Minority Report, Interview with the Vampire, A Few Good Men, The Firm, Rain Man, Collateral, The Last Samurai, Edge of Tomorrow, Born on the Fourth of July, The Color of Money , and the  Mission: Impossible  series, among many others. Dialogue and scenes from Cruise’s films are part of the very fabric of global culture and are regularly referred to and quoted by four generations of worldwide fans daily. 

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Paula Wagner: Tom Cruise’s Former Producing Partner Explains What A Producer Actually Does

Paula Wagner is an unfamiliar name for many film-goers, but if you watch the first three Mission:Impossible  films, you’ll notice they’re made by Cruise/Wagner Productions. Wagner formed the production company with Tom Cruise in 1993. The joint venture marked Wagner’s transition from casting agent at CAA to producer. And Cruise/Wagner Productions gave Cruise more control over projects he acted in, and more of the profits.

Under an exclusive deal with Paramount Pictures, Cruise/Wagner Productions produced every one of Cruise’s films from  Mission: Impossible (1996) to Valkyrie  (2008). Other features made by the production company included The Others, Without Limits, Narc, Shattered Glass, Elizabethtown,  and  Death Race. While Cruise/Wagner closed it’s doors in 2008, after Paramount boss, Sumner Redstone, pulled the plug on his relationship with the production company, both Cruise and Wagner were established as powerful producers, with the lucrative partnership grossing more than $2.9 billion at the box office.

Since then, Wagner has produced two other Cruise projects– Jack Reacher  and  Jack Reacher: Never Go Back– and moved into independent projects, including Chadwick Bosman’s Marshall (2017),  a well-received true story about the first black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall.

Wagner, as a result, knows how to co-ordinate the full gamut of film projects from big budget to smaller character-focused productions. In the following video by CookeOpticsTV below, she explains what the role of the film producer is.

Tags: mission: impossible , producer , tom cruise

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Daniel Rennie

Learn how this low-budget film influenced the plot, the production design, and even the lighting...

Tom Cruise produced a movie in Eugene during the summer of 1996 about Steve Prefontaine

In 1996 a film crew descended on Eugene to make a movie about Steve Prefontaine.

The film followed the relationship between record-breaking distance runner Steve Prefontaine and his coach Bill Bowerman.

Prefontaine was a star athlete from Coos Bay who ran for the University of Oregon and later competed in the Olympics in the 1970s.

He died in an automobile accident in Eugene on May 30, 1975, at the age of 24.

The film was written and directed by Robert Towne and produced by Tom Cruise.

Hundreds of locals appear as extras in the film at locations around Oregon, Lane Community College and Hayward Field.

The $25 million movie was released and distributed by Warner Bros. in 1998.

Cruise himself visited Eugene in 1998 for a screening of the film at the McDonald Theater.

The movie was well-received by critics but ended up grossing only $777,000 at the box office.

Contact photographer Chris Pietsch at [email protected] , or follow him on Twitter @ChrisPietsch and Instagram @chrispietsch

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Tom Cruise Creates His Own ‘Trafalgar Square’ Tube Station Filming Mission: Impossible in London

The actor was pictured filming scenes for the eighth 'Mission: Impossible' movie in the British capital on April 28

Raw Image / Goff / Splash / SplashNews

Tom Cruise has taken over the streets of London!

On Sunday, April 28, the actor, 61, was photographed filming scenes for the next Mission: Impossible movie in the British capital outside an invented Tube station called 'Trafalgar Square.'

Cruise shut down the real Trafalgar Square for the shoot as he was seen coming in and out of the London Underground station while surrounded by crowds of extras.

Off camera, the action star appeared in happier spirits as he chatted to members of the crew in between takes. 

The eighth installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise is set for a May 23, 2025 release. According to Deadline , the release was delayed by a year due to the SAG-AFTRA strike , which ended in November 2023.

Cruise returns to the franchise as protagonist Ethan Hunt, along with director and longtime collaborative partner Christopher McQuarrie. 

The actor was spotted filming more adrenaline-fueled scenes for the action movie in London last month. 

On March 24, the American Made star was photographed sprinting down a street in the capital wearing a black suit with an unbuttoned white shirt covered in fake blood.

Last summer, Cruise returned to the big screen in the seventh film in the franchise, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning .

The film made $172 million at the domestic box office and earned the franchise its first Oscars nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound at the 96th Academy Awards earlier this year.

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Meanwhile, Cruise is reportedly set to appear in another sequel of his movies for the third Top Gun film , following the huge success of the second installment, Top Gun: Maverick , released in 2022. 

In January, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Paramount is developing the sequel with co-writer Ehren Kruger, with Joe Kosinski set to direct. According to the outlet, the film will see Cruise return in his role as Pete Mitchell, alongside his Maverick costars Glen Powell and Miles Teller .

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Tom Cruise Doesn't Really Do Sequels Very Often, But There's Apparently One Movie His Co-Star Was Shocked Didn't Get A Follow-up

U nless we are talking about Mission: Impossible – M:I 8 is currently filming or the long-delayed Top Gun: Maverick –Tom Cruise isn’t known for making very many sequels to his flicks. But, according to one former cast member, there is one film in his oeuvre that he is shocked never got a follow-up. The former cast member in question is Christian Slater, who co-starred along with Cruise and Brad Pitt in one of the best films of the 90s , the film adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel Interview With The Vampire . According to the Heathers alum, he’s shocked that he and the Risky Business star never got a second bite at the neck, playing a vampire in a sequel.

Christian Slater Reflects on The Missed Sequel Opportunity

It's hard to believe it's been nearly three decades–the movie turns 30 this year–since we were first mesmerized by one of the most iconic vampire performances on screen. In an interview shared on Comicbook.com’s Chris Killian’s Instagram , Christian Slater discussed how he and Cruise were reflecting on the project. The pair expressed a mutual astonishment over the movie's lack of a sequel despite their roles becoming fan favorites. He recounted:

Tom Cruise and I were both surprised that Interview With The Vampire didn’t get a sequel. You know, that would have been fun. Uh, I mean, he did bite me at the end of that thing.

For my money, even three decades since its release, Interview With The Vampire is still one of the best vampire movies ever committed to celluloid. Upon release, it was a critical and financial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing R-rated horror films of 1994, and grew to become a goth cult favorite. Not to mention, it introduced the broader world to actress Kirsten Dunst, a role Cruise helped the young actress secure thanks to some very practical advice.

The Enduring Legacy of 'Interview With the Vampire'

Tom Cruise's electrifying turn as the vampire Lestat was central to the film’s success. Initially, Anne Rice, the source material's author, hated Cruise’s casting in the role. However, his performance won her over and helped cement the film's place in cinematic history. Despite this success and the buzz around it, plans to continue Lestat's story with Cruise in a sequel never came to fruition. While the potential for a direct follow-up to this beloved film sparked plenty of discussions, ultimately, those plans remained just out of reach, leaving fans to wonder what might have been.

There was anticipation over a sequel starring the Top Gun A-lister, yet various factors, including rights issues, changes in production companies, and creative decisions, led to a different path for the book to screen adaptations of Rice's novels.

The next film in the series, Queen of the Damned, starring the late singer and actress Aaliyah , was released in 2002, but it did not involve Tom Cruise. Instead, Stuart Townsend took over the role of Lestat. The film combined elements from the second and third books of Rice's series, The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned . Still, it diverged significantly from the source material and did not continue directly from where Interview left off.

Interview With The Vampire is enjoying a second adaptation and return to screens as a television series, which is gearing up for its second season on AMC .

The Possibility Of A Sequel With Cruise

The ending of Interview with the Vampire set the stage perfectly for a sequel. It left audiences reeling from its final twist and introduced a new narrative thread with Daniel, the San Francisco reporter who becomes enthralled with Louis's tale of the undead. As Christian Slater hinted in the recent interview, the setup was ideal for a follow-up. Yet, despite the ripe storytelling potential, a direct continuation wasn't in the cards. Could a sequel with Cruise still happen? As the interviewers and Slater point out, Tom Cruise barely looks like he's aged since the last time he put on the Vampire Lestat's fangs. So, never say never.

Christian Slater's most recent work, another book adaptation, the series The Spiderwick Chronicles , is available now for free on The Roku Channel . Be sure to check out our 2024 movie schedule to see what upcoming horror movies are heading to a screen near you.

The Awful Accident That Happened While Filming Tom Cruise’s ‘American Made’

Death, severe injury, and charges of negligence loomed over the Hollywood star's 2017 film.

The Big Picture

• Tom Cruise's performance in American Made deserves praise, as he portrayed real-life pilot Barry Seal in a daring role.
• The tragic plane crash during the film's production resulted in two deaths and severe injuries to the surviving pilot.
• Lawsuits were filed by the families of the deceased pilots, alleging negligence on the part of the film's production and questioning safety measures.

Any movie fan not living under a rock is well aware of Tom Cruise 's affinity for aviation. Having attained a pilot's license in 1994, the 60-year-old actor has put his skills to jaw-dropping use in several films , most dangerously in the Mission: Impossible films and Top Gun: Maverick . While his role as Pete Mitchell in the latter film and its predecessor remain iconic portrayals of a pilot, his performance as a flying daredevil in another film – American Made – also deserves praise.

In 2017's American Made , Tom Cruise played real-life pilot Barry Seal , a man who would turn to drug smuggling in the 1980s. Featuring many aerial sequences and high-altitude stunts, many of which were performed by the actor himself, the film's production was beset by tragedy on September 11, 2015. Carrying three pilots working on the film, Carlos Berl , Jimmy Lee Garland , and Andrew Purwin , a twin-engine Aerostar 600 crashed while en route through the Colombian Andes . The accident resulted in two deaths and severe lifelong injuries sustained by the sole survivor. But how did such an accident happen? And who would answer to the grieving loved ones filing lawsuits with charges of negligence?

American Made

The story of Barry Seal, an American pilot who became a drug-runner for the CIA in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the Iran-Contra Affair.

Who Were Pilots Carlos Berl, Jimmy Lee Garland, & Andrew Purwin?

Having grown up among aviators in Venezuela, Carlos Berl followed in his family's footsteps and became a pilot himself. Eventually relocating to Florida and New York, he amassed a variety of licenses over the years, and in 2015, caught wind of an upcoming Tom Cruise-starring film looking for experienced pilots. Won over by the opportunity, but with a constant eye toward safety, Berl voiced concerns after learning the production wanted him to fly the Aerostar 600, an aircraft with which he had no experience and was infamous among aviators for its involvement in "more than 260 deaths in 191 accidents around the world since 1969."

A native of Georgia, Jimmy Lee Garland had also never worked on a film. But as a pilot and mechanic running his own aviation company and teaching lessons, his knowledge and experience put him on Hollywood's radar. In addition to serving as Tom Cruise's double, Garland also taught the actor how to fly a Cessna 414, noting that his student "liked to participate in the stunts" and was "a very good pilot." The month before the crash, Garland was in Colombia putting his skills to use, racking up many hours in flight and enjoying the good life in the hotels and casinos of Medellín.

Unlike Berl and Garland, however, Andrew Purwin's aviation record was not without controversy. Particularly known in the industry for performing helicopter stunts, and having worked on high-profile films like Pirates of the Caribbean , Tropic Thunder , and Transformers , he'd cultivated a reputation among colleagues as a "dangerous" and risk-taking pilot. Purwin was also well-known to the Federal Aviation Administration, though perhaps not for the most reassuring reasons. In 1996, he crashed a helicopter that resulted in the death of a business partner, and would eventually be prohibited from flying fixed-wing aircraft in certain "weather and regulatory conditions." Purwin was involved in "dozens of incidents" over the years, and according to some in Hollywood's aviation circles, was even a member of the so-called "death pool," a group composed of pilots considered likely to lose their lives in a plane crash.

What Happened on the Set of 'American Made'?

As cameras were rolling on American Made in Colombia, Berl, Garland, and Purwin were tasked with flying the twin-engine Aerostar 600 from Santa Fe de Antioquia to Medellín after a long day of filming. Embarking on what should've been a 35-mile flight lasting just 20 minutes, the trio took off around 5:30 P.M., only moments after Tom Cruise had departed the set in a helicopter. According to initial reports, the Aerostar encountered bad weather and crashed near the village of La Clarita.

Upon discovering the wreckage , local civilians found all three pilots alive, though severely injured. But after summoning help and returning to the downed plane, Carlos Berl and Andrew Purwin had perished. The lone survivor, Jimmy Lee Garland, suffered "a shattered vertebra, collapsed lung, herniated diaphragm, 10 broken teeth, broken ribs, a broken jawbone, and a cracked skull on both sides of a dislodged eye socket." Waking up in a hospital nine days after the crash, Garland would later claim to have no memory of the flight, who was flying, or how the plane went down.

What Happened After the 'American Made' Set Accident?

Many questions were being asked after the tragedy in the Colombian mountains. How could three experienced pilots, each of whom had logged hours over the dramatic terrain of South American jungles and rainforests, end up crashing on a routine flight? What kinds of safety guidelines and industry regulations did the film's production have in place to avoid such an accident? What, if any, external factors may have contributed to what happened? And perhaps the most crucial question of all, who was flying the plane? With survivor Johnny Lee Garland unable to remember anything about the flight and its demise, it appears the question of who was flying the Aerostar will never be answered.

The loved ones of Carlos Berl and Andrew Purwin filed lawsuits, each citing negligence on the part of the film production and making claims regarding shortcuts taken at the expense of overall safety. Filed a year after his death, the suit on Berl's behalf alleged that American Made 's producers, as well as his fellow co-pilots, pressured him into piloting the notorious Aerostar that he'd not been trained to fly. Filed in April 2016, the lawsuit on Purwin's behalf made similar allegations against the film's producers and flight coordinators, claiming that Berl was flying the plane and his inexperience contributed to the crash. For their part, the producers filed a countersuit against Purwin, claiming that his aviation company, Heliblack, supplied the film production with a compromised plane and that the pilot had been dishonest about his qualifications.

The True Story Behind Tom Cruise’s ‘American Made’

Regarding the events immediately preceding the flight, an anonymous source noted, "Apparently there was an argument about needing to leave immediately, even though they had some information about the weather that they should have stayed behind. I was just told there was intense pressure to get out as soon as possible." Another source, an experienced Colombian pilot, acknowledged, "I fly there regularly, and I would have stayed on the ground that day. You have to have experience to fly in Colombia. You cannot fly here like you fly in Miami, where there’s not a mountain anywhere. If you fly in South America, you have to be very trained in the conditions."

In April 2019, more than three years after the accident and a year-and-a-half after American Made hit theaters, the legal battles came to an end. According to Variety , the litigation was resolved in an undisclosed settlement between the plaintiffs and the film's producers . While it may never be known exactly why the Aerostar went down, or who was flying the plane in the first place, the tragedy behind the 2017 film shined a sobering light on the often contentious issues surrounding overall safety, the vetting of individuals, and regulatory processes as they relate to the logistics of film production.

Something Similar Happened on the 'Top Gun' Set

As tragic as it was, the accident associated with American Made wasn't the first of its kind while filming a movie starring Tom Cruise . Renowned pilot Art Scholl , 53 years old and known for his stunt work in Hollywood and air shows, was flying a Pitts Special biplane to capture footage for Top Gun in 1985. While in an inverted flat spin over the Pacific, Scholl suddenly radioed, "I've got a problem here." Moments later, he crashed into the ocean, and though debris was recovered, neither the full wreckage nor Scholl's body was ever found by authorities. Much like the events leading to the deaths on American Made 's production, a level of mystery and speculation will forever shroud the accident involving Scholl , only further confirming the inherent risks and danger that come with efforts to capture thrilling aerial feats on film.

'American Made' Has Seen a Resurgence in Popularity on Streaming Services

Six years after its release, American Made has made waves on streaming platforms , particularly Netflix, in which it held a position in the service's Top 10 Movies for weeks. There is no simple explanation for why a film or TV show from yesteryear sees a resurgence among viewers, but Tom Cruise's reassertion as a cinematic force in recent years is a likely factor. Between Mission: Impossible - Fallout and the unexpectedly massive box office performance of Top Gun: Maverick , the 61-year-old superstar is enjoying a well-deserved career renaissance after a period of lukewarm reception among audiences. American Made is one of Cruise's most breezy and watchable efforts in a forty-year career , balancing its real-life narrative basis with a playful sense of humor and irreverence for its subject and lead character. And, of course, its status as a true-crime film can't hurt as it streams on a service well-known as a haven for such non-fiction fare. Even so, understanding the tragic context surrounding the film's creation remains important and sobering.

American Made is available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.

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