Tom Cruise‘s Mission: Impossible franchise is one of the longest-running franchises of all time. Despite the fact that it has been twenty-seven years since the first Mission: Impossible film was released, the movies have only gone upward on the graph. Undoubtedly, the success of the franchise has a lot to do with its lead actor.
Tom Cruise knows what his fans want and he is not afraid to deliver. With back-to-back dangerous stunts, it’s safe to say that the actor has put his life on the line for the franchise. However, there came a little speed bump on the road when Paramount essentially fired Tom Cruise from the franchise and terminated their deal. Of course, you can’t get rid of Tom Cruise that easily!
Tom Cruise Was Fired From Mission: Impossible
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Sumner Redstone – chairman of Paramount’s parent company Viacom, in 2006 – publically criticized Tom Cruise for his irrational behavior. He stated that the company does not want to associate with someone who was hell-bent on committing “creative suicide” and was causing a loss of company revenue.
“We don’t think that someone who effectuates creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot […] His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount… He had never behaved this way before, he really went over the top.”
This animosity came after Mission: Impossible III couldn’t perform as well as its predecessors. As compared to Mission: Impossible ($457 million) and Mission: Impossible 2 ($546 million), the third film could only bring in $398 million.
On top of that, Cruise’s Q rating, a measure of popularity, dropped by a whopping 40%. It seemed as if the actor was detaching himself from his fan following, especially the women who were so crazy about him. During this time, Cruise was heavily involved in his romantic relationship with Katie Holmes, with whom he tied the knot in 2006. It’s almost as if every little factor contributed to Cruise’s apparent downfall and removal from the franchise.
How Did Tom Cruise Bounce Back?
The question is, if the team at Paramount was so dead set on not wanting to work with the Top Gun: Maverick actor, what exactly changed their minds? Well, after all, was said and done, Cruise went on to star in Lions For Lambs and Valkyrie. These two films were met with mixed feedback from the audience. However, things changed when people say the actor put his talents on full display in Tropic Thunder.
The performance was loved by everyone at Paramount that they wanted to make a spin-off for Cruise’s character in Tropic Thunder. Eventually, with the help of director J.J. Abrams, Cruise was able to convince the studios to let him do a fourth Mission: Impossible. Paramount agreed on the condition that they would groom another actor for the role side by side, which just so happened to be Jeremy Renner.
Of course, their plans couldn’t come to fruition as the release of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol managed to knock everyone’s socks off. The film did exceptionally well at the box office, making a little under $700 million. Fans and critics loved Cruise’s performance, and the rest as they say, is history!
You can stream the Mission: Impossible films on Paramount+.
Source: The Wall Street Journal (via ScreenCrush)
