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At one time, there was not a more successful leading man in Hollywood than Tom Cruise. Any movie with Cruise was a guaranteed box office success for many years, although a box office success in the '80s was very different than it is now. For example, the number one movie in 1986 was Cruise's Top Gun with $179 million, which is only ninth all-time for Cruise domestically and 259th all-time.
However, Tom Cruise remains a legitimate box office star over 30 years later. He has appeared in some of the top movies of the last two decades, many of which still put him at the top of the box office charts regularly. Here is a look at the 10 highest-grossing Tom Cruise movies of all time, based on the worldwide take.
EDGE OF TOMORROW ($370M)
Possibly the best Tom Cruise sci-fi movie for critics and fans alike, Edge of Tomorrow sits at the number 10 spot for the worldwide box office take at $370 million. It barely edges out the more mainstream Minority Report by just $12 million and misses the top 10 domestically, falling short thanks to his cameo in Austin Powers in Goldmember.
Edge of Tomorrow, which many people believe was titled Live Die Repeat, stars Cruise as a soldier sent in by the United States to battle aliens who conquered most of Europe. When he kills an alien, the blood from the alien splatters on him as he dies too. However, he resurrects in the past and lives a Groundhog Day experience as he tries to get their mission right.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III ($397M)
When it comes to Tom Cruise movies that top the box office, all six Mission: Impossible films sit in the Top 10 with Mission: Impossible III the least successful. Despite this, it still made $397 million worldwide thanks to a franchise-low $134 million domestically.
The film saw Ethan Hunt retired from IMF and settled down, ready to get married. However, he has to come back to action and assemble a team to face down Philip Seymour Hoffman's Owen Davian. The movie might have the least box office of the series, but arguably has the best story of the first three movies.
THE MUMMY ($409M)
In what has to be a shocking total box office take, The Mummy sits at number 8 worldwide for Tom Cruise movies. This fact is surprising because it was a critical flop, considered a box office failure domestically. The film ranks a low 22nd domestically for Cruise with only $80 million.
However, worldwide, it was a more significant success. The reboot of the Mummy franchise and the continuation of the shared universe Universal Monster movies made an impressive $329 million worldwide to bring its take to over $400 million.
THE LAST SAMURAI ($456M)
Tom Cruise starred in The Last Samurai in 2003, a movie that received critical praise and a substantial worldwide box office take. Cruise stars as a United States Captain in 1877 who comes into contact with samurai warriors in 19th Century Japan. The film told the story of the westernization of Japan.
The Last Samurai grossed $111 million in the United States, which is good enough for 14th domestically for Tom Cruise. However, internationally, it brought in a total of $345 million to push the movie to $456 million worldwide and a seventh-place spot for Tom Cruise box office.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE ($457M)
In 1996, Brian De Palma remade the classic television series Mission: Impossible as a Tom Cruise-starring movie. It was a huge success and set up a franchise. There have been six films over 22 years, all sitting as some of Cruise's highest-grossing movies of all time based on the box office totals.
The first film set up Cruise as Ethan Hunt and set him out to find a mole that framed him for the murder of his former team. It also set up one of his supporting cast members with Ving Rhames' Luther Stickell.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II ($546M)
The second movie in the Mission: Impossible franchise took the straight action of the first movie and created a stylized affair. This change is no surprise with John Woo taking on the directing role. One of cinema's most iconic action directors, Woo carried the franchise to great heights; it was the highest-grossing movie in the series until 2011.
Domestically, the only movie to surpass Mission: Impossible II was the 2018 release Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Mission Impossible II sits at number two for Tom Cruise in the U.S. with an impressive $220 million. However, it only hit $331 million internationally, keeping it down the list with a $546 million total box office take.
WAR OF THE WORLDS ($591M)
Steven Spielberg has always dominated the box office in the United States. In 2005, he released War of the Worlds, which ranked sixth all-time domestically for the director and fifth all-time worldwide. For Tom Cruise, War of the Worlds was his fourth highest-grossing movie of all-time.
The film retold the classic H.G. Wells story previously adapted in 1953. Tom Cruise plays a regular guy who is estranged from his children. When his ex-wife drops them off with him, the aliens attack, and Cruise has to protect his children while trying to stay alive himself.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION ($682M)
The top three highest-grossing Tom Cruise movies of all time based on worldwide box office take are all in the Mission: Impossible series. The lower of the three later films in the series is 2015's Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. The film was the first directed by Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie.
Rogue Nation finds Ethan Hunt on the run for his life after the government dissolves the IMF. Hunt then sets out to prove that a terrorist organization called the Syndicate exists. The movie finished with $682 million worldwide, barely missing its predecessor at the box office.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL ($694M)
The first movie in the new generation of Mission: Impossible movies hit in 2011 and had a surprising director that set the series off in a brand-new direction. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol was Brad Bird's first live-action movie following his impressive animation films (Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille).
Jeremy Renner joined the cast as a new ally for Ethan Hunt and his team. Their mission is to learn the identity of a terrorist who has received the launch codes to nuclear missiles. The movie finished with $694 million, good enough for second highest-grossing Tom Cruise movie of all time.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT ($791M)
In 2018, Tom Cruise returned for his sixth outing as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. The movie upped the action, with Christopher McQuarrie on as the first man to direct more than one film in the series. Fallout also added Superman actor Henry Cavill as a CIA agent sent along to monitor Hunt on his latest mission.
The movie was a massive success at the box office. It ranked second domestically for Tom Cruise, following only War of the Worlds. However, it was the highest-grossing movie worldwide by a large margin, making $791 million, almost $100 million more than the second-place Tom Cruise movie.