Tom Cruise has two huge franchise installments on the way, but the star needs Top Gun: Maverick to succeed at the box office more than he needs Mission: Impossible 7. Arriving in cinemas 34 years after the first film soared at the box office, the long-awaited Top Gun: Maverick will have a hard time matching audiences’ nostalgic memories of director/action cinema legend Tony Scott’s original Top Gun. The original told the tale of Cruise’s charming, if reckless, Maverick, an appropriately-named test pilot whose incredible flying skill couldn’t save him from tragically learning teamwork was more important than his "need for speed.”
A hit with audiences upon its arrival in cinemas in 1986, Top Gun caused the real-life recruitment numbers for the Navy and Air Force to skyrocket thanks to its outsized popularity. The movie also made a bonafide blockbuster star of Cruise, who before Top Gun was best known for 1983 teen sex comedy Risky Business. Since then, Cruise has gone on to become one of the biggest movie stars of the last four decades, although the actor still only has one consistently popular franchise to his name in Mission: Impossible.
Releasing their seventh installment shortly after the arrival of Top Gun: Maverick, the Mission: Impossible movies have gone from strength to strength since Brian De Palma directed the first film back in 1996. However, despite the success of the Mission movies, it's Maverick that Cruise needs to see succeed at the box office in 2021. As proven by their consistently impressive returns, the Mission: Impossible franchise has been hugely successful for two and a half decades, where in contrast, Top Gun: Maverick is relying on Cruise’s star power far more.
Cruise alone is the major selling point for a Top Gun sequel, especially with few of the original movie's cast returning for the sequel. The reliable brand of his spy series, the stellar (and unlike Top Gun’s newcomers, well-proven) Mission: Impossible supporting cast, and the consistently impressive action sequences all draw audiences in - even if they’re somewhat indifferent toward Cruise himself. In contrast, much like the original Top Gun, the sequel’s success will depend on the appetite global audiences have for Cruise’s screen presence.
Tom Cruise has often had sufficient star power to sell a movie, as proven by the success of the Jack Reacher series. However, in the last decade Cruise star vehicles like 2017's ill-fated The Mummy reboot have flopped with critics and audiences, proving the actor’s appeal alone isn’t a bulletproof formula. If Top Gun: Maverick can make the story of Maverick’s internal struggles engaging for a new generation, there could be more Cruise-centric movies in the future. However, if Mission: Impossible 7 outstrips Top Gun: Maverick at the box office, it may mean more movies where the star takes a back seat to an ensemble cast.
