Tom Cruise: becoming a billionaire at 60 years old?

Tom Cruise is one of the few Hollywood stars who can fill a movie theater with just their presence. 'Top Gun: Maverick' and the 'Mission: Impossible' films are examples of that.

Clearly, to get an incredible star like Tom Cruise in your cast, you have to be prepared to pay. Considering that the actor has already spent 40 years being an A-List star, he must have a lot of money.

According to media outlets like Forbes and Celebrity Net Worth, the actor's fortune is estimated at more than 600 million dollars. He is one of the richest actors in the world.

His fortune leads us to one spot: Hollywood. Tom Cruise has been loyal to the U.S. film industry and has amassed hundreds of millions thanks to his blockbuster films and successful promotional campaigns.

Tom Cruise's movies have garnered more than 9 billion dollars around the world. As of today, his biggest grossing film so far is 'Mission: Impossible - Fallout' (2018), with 791 million at the box office.

The marriage between Cruise and Hollywood is one of the most prolific ones in history and seems far from over. Let's have a look at how this long and fruitful relationship started.

It was 1981 and Tom Cruise had just gotten his first relevant role in a movie. It was called 'Taps' and the actor was paid 50.000 dollars for it. At just 19, he was at the beginning of his successful professional life.

Paula Wagner from the talent agency CAA signed a deal with Tom Cruise that is effective to this day. In the early '90s, they created Cruise/Wagner Productions together. It's the actor's gold mine.

Before being a producer, Cruise spent the '80s working to become the promising star bound to rule Hollywood. In the picture, in 1983, a 21-year-old Tom Cruise smiles at the camera.

Everything started with the movie 'Risky Business' (1983), for which he was paid 75.000 dollars. It was the actor's first worldwide hit.

From that moment on, Tom Cruise's earnings didn't stop increasing and his salary reached the 6 figures for the first time with the movie 'Legend' (1985) —which meant an income of 500.000 dollars for the actor.

'Top Gun' (1986) was the first movie in which the actor started making millions. He earned 2 million dollars, which was 13% of the movie's entire budget.

His worth went through the roof and, in 1994, he'd sign a contract for 15 million dollars to play Lestat de Lioncourt in 'Interview with the Vampire'.

At the time, Cruise/Wagner was already a fact (1992) and in 1996, they would produce their first movie: 'Mission: Impossible'.

It cost 80 million dollars and brought in 457 million dollars worldwide. 'Mission: Impossible' was the beginning of one of the most successful sagas in movie history with 7 more films and many box office records.

The 'Mission: Impossible' success made Cruise a sum of 245 million dollars —including salary and back-end earnings— just for the first three movies of the saga. In the picture, we see Cruise playing Ethan Hunt in 'Mission: Impossible' (1996).

In fact, the third installment of 'Mission: Impossible', along with Spielberg's 'War of the Worlds' have been Tom Cruise's best-paid movies: 100 million dollars each.

Not everything is shining in Tom Cruise's bank accounts. As everybody knows, the actor is a member of the Scientology Church, and this faith has a cost. According to Business Insider, Cruise has spent an average of 25 million dollars in his journey as a Scientologist.

Not only faith is part of the actor's life. Two times divorced and a father of three, he is forced to pay child support to ex-wife Katie Holmes for one of his daughters. The actress has full custody of  Suri, the daughter she and Cruise have together, and the actor must pay her 400.000 dollars a year plus any extra expenses.

Despite all of that, Celebrity Net Worth states, Tom Cruise's fortune was estimated at 745 million dollars before the pandemic. By now, the actor still has a net worth of 600 million.

However, that incredible net worth will considerably increase with the income for 'Top Gun: Maverick' (2022) and the upcoming 'Mission: Impossible' movies. As reported by International Business Times, Tom Cruise has signed a 13-million-dollar contract for his leading role in 'Top Gun.' However, he will make much more considering his earnings as a producer.

By July 2022, 'Top Gun: Maverick' had already made 1.3 billion dollars. It was Tom Cruise's most successful film since 'War of the Worlds.'

Tom Cruise is getting 20% first-dollar gross for this movie: a huge deal. First-dollar gross means that the actor will get paid once movie theaters start making money off the film rather than when the producing companies are making a profit.

So, by the time 'Top Gun: Maverick' reached 1 billion dollars, Tom Cruise was already making 120 million dollars, 20% of the movie's total revenue.

It doesn't end there though: if the movie is sold to a streaming platform - which is highly likely - Maverick's character could earn Tom Cruise up to 200 million dollars over the next years.

With these promising figures, Tom Cruise is certainly a candidate to enter the billionaire club. Will he reach this milestone with the upcoming 'Mission: Impossible'? Either way, at 60 years old, Tom Cruise's future looks brighter than ever.

(Image: a younger Tom Cruise in the 1988 film 'Cocktail.')