The answer is yes, based on the performance of his current movie, Paramount鈥檚 Jack Reacher. It鈥檚 been a hit at the box office in a very crowded and competitive holiday market.
Holiday movies tend to have legs and Reacher has yet to roll out in the majority of major foreign territories, so both of those numbers, particularly the international one, will be growing. All signs point to it surpassing $200 million at the worldwide box office. That鈥檚 not a blockbuster figure, and Paramount is staying mum on a sequel, but with a $60-million budget, Jack Reacher will make money for Paramount.
There were questions coming in. With his divorce from Katie Holmes and subsequent custody battle, Cruise is carrying plenty of public-relations baggage. His foray earlier this year into musicals with Rock of Ages was critically applauded, but proved a box-office dud. That鈥檚 on top of his well-known support for Scientology.
He鈥檚 50 now, which might be the new 40 in the real world, but is starting to get on in years in the realm of action heroes.
Daniel Craig is 44. Jeremy Renner is 41. We are a long way from Top Gun 鈥� that was 1986 鈥� so it probably won鈥檛 be too, too long until The Expendables franchise comes calling for Cruise.
But in the meantime, Reacher is going to be profitable for Paramount and Cruise鈥檚 portrayal of the tough, ex-military drifter has drawn critical kudos, so there鈥檚 a bit of momentum now. And it鈥檚 clear from his upcoming schedule that Hollywood is still convinced he can carry an action film.
Next for Cruise will be two sci-fi movies: Universal鈥檚 Oblivion is due in April and All You Need is Kill is set for March 2014 from Warner Bros. After that, there鈥檚 a potential Van Helsing remake at Universal and Mission: Impossible 5 is on Paramount鈥檚 2015 slate.
His recent track record at the box office, particularly when you look at his performance in the action genre, suggests the studios are making a pretty good bet. Rock of Ages may have crumpled, but Mission: Impossible 鈥� Ghost Protocol was a huge hit for Paramount, taking in nearly $700 million worldwide in 2011. Knight & Day, from Fox in 2010, and Valkyrie, from United Artists in 2008, both made more than $200 million worldwide.
Supporting roles in Tropic Thunder and Lions for Lambs preceded those, but those came on the heels of two Paramount movies: Mission Impossible 3, which made nearly $400 million worldwide in 2006, and War of the Worlds, which did $592 million in the previous year.
The bottom line: Hollywood is still convinced you can still take Tom Cruise, movie-action hero, to the bank.
