Summary
- Tom Cruise's star power was evident in the success of the Mission Impossible franchise, but his ability to draw audiences was also apparent in the box office numbers of the critically panned film, The Mummy.
- The Mummy, despite being a critical failure, grossed a significant amount of money thanks to Tom Cruise's star power. The film's box office success underscores the impact that he has, regardless of the quality of the movie.
- Even Tom Cruise's star power couldn't have saved Universal's Dark Universe. The Mummy's flaws extended beyond Cruise's performance, and the ambitious cinematic universe would have likely crumbled even if the film had been a success.
Tom Cruise is one of the biggest and most profitable actors in the film industry, and curiously enough, one failed movie franchise proves his star power better than his two most popular franchises. Tom Cruise’s acting career started in 1981 in the romantic drama Endless Love, but his big break arrived two years later when he got the lead role in the comedy film Risky Business. Tom Cruise became one of the most popular actors of the 1980s, and his biggest project during that decade was, without a doubt, Top Gun. Directed by Tony Scott, Top Gun boosted Cruise’s career thanks to his performance as Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and established Cruise as a highly profitable actor.
Tom Cruise’s success continued through the 1990s with movies like Days of Thunder, Interview with the Vampire, and Jerry Maguire, and in 1996, he played Ethan Hunt for the first time in Mission: Impossible. Since then, Cruise has starred in every movie in the Mission Impossible movie series to great success, further fueling his undeniable star power. However, one of the biggest proofs of Tom Cruise’s incredible star power is in a failed franchise, which had it succeeded, would have given Cruise’s career yet another massive boost.
The Mummy (2017) Grossed $410 Million (Despite Being Awful)
The Mission Impossible saga helped Cruise maintain his popularity through the 2000s and 2010s, leading to other big projects. Among them was 2017’s The Mummy, a reboot of the Mummy franchise directed by Alex Kurtzman. Cruise was cast as U.S. Army Sergeant Nick Morton, a soldier who accidentally unearths the ancient tomb of entrapped Egyptian princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella). When the princess is set free, Nick and company have to fight for their lives while also looking for a way to defeat the malevolent princess.
The Mummy was planned to be the first step in the creation of a modern cinematic universe based on Universal’s classic monsters, with plans for a remake of Bride of Frankenstein and 2014’s Dracula Untold being retrospectively considered to be the first movie in this new universe. Unfortunately, The Mummy was a critical failure, but its box office numbers didn’t really match the bad reviews.
Although The Mummy was a box-office bomb, it grossed $80.2 million domestically and $329.8 million overseas, which are big numbers for a movie that was destroyed by critics and general audiences. It’s safe to say that The Mummy’s box office numbers are thanks to Tom Cruise’s star power, showing the impact that he has even if the movie isn’t good.
Not Even Tom Cruise Could Save Universal’s Dark Universe
Even if Tom Cruise’s star power saved The Mummy from truly embarrassing box office numbers, it still wouldn’t have been able to save Universal’s Dark Universe. The Mummy was criticized for its narrative tone, plot points setting up the Dark Universe, and lack of originality, and was labeled by critics as a “mess”. The Mummy would have set the tone for the rest of the Dark Universe, which had it carried on, would have been an even bigger mess and failure than The Mummy was. The problems of The Mummy go beyond Tom Cruise and his performance, and not even his popularity could have made Universal’s Dark Universe work as it was planned back then.
