TOM'S Hollywood Comeback!

After making some mistakes, Tom Cruise is back on top with an Oscar nomination for Top Gun: Maverick and a new love

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Everyone wanted a piece of him. Tom Cruise stepped into the packed ballroom at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills for the Oscar Nominees Luncheon on Feb. 13 and was mobbed — by other stars. Acting nominees Austin Butler, Brendan Gleeson, Paul Mescal and Michelle Yeoh, as well as directors Baz Luhrmann and Guillermo del Toro, made a beeline for Tom, eager to grab a photo and say hello. Iconic filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who directed Tom in Minority Report and War of the Worlds, also approached him to deliver a lengthy hug — in addition to high praise. “You saved Hollywood’s a--, and you might have saved theatrical distribution,” Steven, 76, told Tom. “Seriously, Top Gun: Maverick might have saved the entire theatrical industry.”

At 60, Tom is thriving more than ever. Thanks to the wild success of 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick — the first film in his 40-year career to gross more than $1 billion globally and the first to earn him a Best Picture Academy Award nomination as a producer — Tom’s fortune has ballooned to $600 million. It’s been one hell of a comeback for the man who hadn’t released a movie since 2018 and left LA after selling his last property there in 2016 and relocating abroad. “Tom may have moved out of Hollywood, but he’s back in the mix in the industry he adores and he’s finally feeling the love again,” says an insider. “He’s telling people that this is his year. It doesn’t hurt that he’s now heading to the Oscars [on March 12] with a nod for such a huge blockbuster. Put it this way: Tom’s back on top.”