Image via Everett Collection //

Has come a long way from jumping on couches during daytime TV…

Even though he’s been a bonafide leading man for over three decades, Tom Cruise has yet to have one of his films hit the billion dollar mark in the box office. And if we’re being real, it makes sense. In between endless Mission Impossible Reboots, the odd sci-fi epic and occasional comedy cameo, the man has definitely stayed in his lane since his film debut all those years ago. Enter Top Gun: Maverick, however, which has just hit $1.1 billion USD ($1.6 billion AUD) worldwide.

And of course, it’s no secret Cruise wasn’t exactly keen on making the sequel, saying for years that his wingman days were more or less behind him. However, he finally gave in, but not before negotiating a rock solid contract that his bank account is no doubt thanking him for.

To be specific, old mate’s contract works in two parts, the first of which guaranteeing him a $12.5 million USD ($18.4 million AUD) payday upon the film’s completion. Next comes the backend dividends, which start to trickle down once distributer Paramount hits approximately $125 million USD in revenue. Then, if the film makes it to $1.3 billion USD ($1.9 billion AUD), which seems very likely, TC would cop 10%, which would easily be about $55 million USD ($81 million AUD). Finally comes home video, streaming and so on. Of course, it’s next to impossible to guess how much he’d make in that realm, but it’s estimated that altogether, he could walk away with a total of $90 million USD ($133 million AUD).

Looks like old mate has plenty of reason to do a sequel if he so desires. Check out the trailer for Top Gun: Maverick above, along with the already-iconic ‘Great Balls of Fire’ clip from the film below.