Cruise Control

Depending on who you talk to, tom cruise is either a maniac or a master of his craft. Either way, he’s one of the most bankable stars in the business and, as he hits 55 this year, that doesn’t look like changing any time soon.

- Paul Dargan

“Working with Tom Cruise is one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever been given by this business.” Such high praise comes from director, producer and screenwriter Steven Spielberg, who worked with Cruise on Minority Report and War of the Worlds. But, “When you talk about a great actor, you’re not talking about Tom Cruise,” was the opinion of legendary film star and singer Lauren Bacall. That’s two hugely-respected figures of the movie industry – and two polarised opinions.

Whatever one’s view of the actor – Bacall added that Cruise is “a maniac – I can’t understand the way he conducts his life” – he has twice been ranked by Forbes as the world’s most powerful celebrity, he frequently appears at the top of ‘most beautiful people’ lists (and was voted ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ in 1990) and he topped the annual Quigley list of the highest money-making stars a record seven times between 1986 and 2005. Maniac or movie mastermind?

Cruise’s latest film – a reboot of The Mummy – took $32m on its opening weekend in the United States. That is a huge amount to a lot of people, but not necessarily in this industry, especially when you consider it took as much as $190m to make and over $100m to market and release. Although it has performed better in other territories – a gross figure of $142m has been reported – it’s certainly way less than was expected, and it leaves the future of the franchise a little uncertain.