Top 10 Grossing Tom Cruise Movies are recorded by Contract Music to recall the actor's box office records "which eclipses most other stars in Hollywood." His movies, mostly action thrillers have broken records since the mid 80s. Cruise's latest movie, Edge of Tomorrow, has so far grossed over $239 million worldwide but did not make it to the Top Ten of the actor's highest grossing movies of all times.
Here are Cruise's Top Ten highest earning movies as recounted by Contract Music:
1. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) $694,713,380
The fourth instalment of the Mission Impossible series which take over $694million worldwide is the highest grosser among the series. Ghost Protocol came along, 15 years after Ethan Hunt's first adventure and the movie managed to exceed all expectations.
2. War of the Worlds (2005) $591,745,540
The combination of Cruise, Steven Spielberg and the writings of H.G. Wells proved to be box office gold when War of the Worlds invaded theatres in 2005, taking $200million in just 24 days. The film was also a critical success earning positive reviews across the board, from all, except the Razzie awards committee who nominated Cruise as the year's worst actor.
3. Mission Impossible II (2000) $546,388,105
Brian De Palma handed over directorial duties to John Woo for Mission Impossible's second instalment, but the change behind the camera didn't affect the box office, with the sequel surpassing its predecessor.
4. Mission Impossible (1996) $457,696,359
Ethan Hunt's debut mission broke records upon its release in 1996 including becoming the highest grossing movie to open on a Wednesday. Tom Cruise got a nice cut of the over $457 million the movie raked in at the worldwide box office.
5. The Last Samurai (2003) $456,758,981
Set in 1876, Cruise stars as a American officer who trains with samurai solders rebelling against the Emperor. While the movie was well received in the United States it fared even better in Japan, where it was positively received by critics and audiences, significantly pushing up it's worldwide box office numbers.
6. Mission Impossible III (2006) $397,850,012
This time JJ Abrams took the Mission Impossible reigns making his directorial debut. Cruise also took more control behind the scenes, serving as producer alongside his former agent Paula Wagner. While still a box office success, Mission Impossible III had a considerably weaker box office run than its predecessors, taking under $400 million, far less than had been predicted.
7. Minority Report (2002) $358,372,926
The Minority Report is a complicated thriller set in 2054 which proved to be the perfect project for a Cruise/Spielberg collaboration. The film was critically acclaimed, receiving numerous award nominations and topping many critic's lists of the year's best movies.
8. Top Gun (1986) $356,830,601
The role that transitioned Tom Cruise from actor to movie star became the highest grossing film of 1986 and remains one of his best remembered performances. Although the critical reaction at the time was mixed, Top Gun was filled with enough memorable quotes and one very over played song to guarantee it a spot in movie history and many, many spoofs.
9. Rain Man (1988) $354,825,435
The 1988 best picture Oscar winner, Rain Man also performed well at the box office, becoming 1988's highest grossing movie. While it was Hoffman who walked away with all the accolades, Cruise earned praise for his performance as Charlie, proving the young actor's worth as a dramatic performer.
10. Jerry Maguire (1996) $273,552,592
Tom, who is still yet to win an Academy Award, received his second Oscar nomination for his portrayal of sport's agent Jerry Maguire. The film had a relatively small budget of $50 million, but it ended up taking over five times as much worldwide, eventually becoming the fourth highest grossing romantic comedy of all time.
