Has Cruise lost it?

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Has Tom Cruise lost his appeal as a bankable star? Leading man?
His movie Jack Reacher failed to reach No. 1 this week. It earned an estimated $15 million.

According to IMDB Cruise is slated for four more movies, including another MI.

His last few movies:

Mission: Impossible 5 (announced)
Ethan Hunt
???? Van Helsing (announced)
2014 All You Need Is Kill (filming)
2013 Oblivion (post-production)
2012 Jack Reacher
2012 Rock of Ages
2011 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
2010 Knight and Day
2008 Valkyrie
2008 Tropic Thunder
2007 Lions for Lambs
2006 Mission: Impossible III
2005 War of the Worlds
2004 Collateral
2003 The Last Samurai
2002 Minority Report
2001 Vanilla Sky
2000 Mission: Impossible II
1999 Magnolia
1999 Eyes Wide Shut

His last several movies - with the exception of MI's - have not been smash hits.
I'm an not a fan of the MI franchise. I'd argue his last good movie, in which he was a star, was The Last Samurai. Before that Jerry McGuire.

Has Cruise lost his power as a bankable star? Or is this just a bump in the road?

I saw the previews for Reacher and was meh'd.
If it was Liam Neeson or Jason Statham, yeah. Cruise? Meh.

 

[Songbird]

Maybe they should do Risky Business 2: Guido's Revenge

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Cruise is still a big international draw. But he's no longer a sex symbol in the US. Girls don't want to be with him and guys don't want to be him.

That said - Knight and Day was an enjoyable and under-rated flick.

 

[Batman]

"Jack Reacher" and "All You Need is Kill" sound like they should be starring Rainier Wolfcastle, not Tom Cruise.

 

[Care Bear]

Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher was a bad idea. That could be part of the issue with this movie.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Chris, I hope you're joking about Knight and Day... That had to be among the worst movies I've ever seen.

I had written Cruise off as done, at least as a bankable A-list movie star, until MI:4 came out last year. That was a very, very good movie.

I'm sure he'll have a few more hits before he's done. His personal life certainly doesn't help matters. Cruise's biggest draw in the late 80s and early 90s was that he seemed very likable. I don't think people like him anymore and that's largely due to the fact that most people think he's a creepy fraud in real life.

He's probably had a better run of any actor of my lifetime... It's probably him or Harrison Ford, and nobody goes to his movies anymore either...

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Mizzou - not kidding about Knight and Day. Which is surprising to me too because I'm not a fan of either Cruise or Acne McFlatchest

 

[John]

Chris, I hope you're joking about Knight and Day... That had to be among the worst movies I've ever seen.

I had written Cruise off as done, at least as a bankable A-list movie star, until MI:4 came out last year. That was a very, very good movie.

I'm sure he'll have a few more hits before he's done. His personal life certainly doesn't help matters. Cruise's biggest draw in the late 80s and early 90s was that he seemed very likable. I don't think people like him anymore and that's largely due to the fact that most people think he's a creepy fraud in real life.

He's probably had a better run of any actor of my lifetime... It's probably him or Harrison Ford, and nobody goes to his movies anymore either...

All I see when I look at him now is a crazy guy in a cult who loves to be shown running in his films.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Cruise does run better than Liam Neeson (who runs like he's holding in a ****)

 

[Songbird]

I didn't see it but didn't Cruise get pretty good reviews for being pretty funny in Pineapple Express?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Mizzou - not kidding about Knight and Day. Which is surprising to me too because I'm not a fan of either Cruise or Acne McFlatchest

I like most of his movies. That one might be the only one he's done that I would call just a complete piece of ****. I'm probably forgetting one. That Irish movie he made with Kidman was pretty awful as well.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I didn't see it but didn't Cruise get pretty good reviews for being pretty funny in Pineapple Express?

Are you thinking of Tropic Thunder?

Awesome movie and he might have been the best part of it.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

A $15 million opening can be misleading at this time of the year. During the Summer, it would be a complete disaster, but it wouldn't surprise me if it makes $15-$25 million in the next week. This is such a big moviegoing week that a lot of movies frequently do better during the second week since every day this week is a big movie day. Having Christmas on a Tuesday will actually probably help. Anything under $100 mil domestically would be disappointing and it's probably not going to make that, but as Chris mentioned, he's still a big international draw and the movie will easily become profitable overseas.

As far as not being No. 1, there was no way in hell it was going to beat The Hobbit.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

"Jack Reacher" and "All You Need is Kill" sound like they should be starring Rainier Wolfcastle, not Tom Cruise.

I would include Van Helsing in that as well.
I saw (part of) the Jackman version. It stunk and I have little hope for the Cruise version.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

I didn't see it but didn't Cruise get pretty good reviews for being pretty funny in Pineapple Express?

Are you thinking of Tropic Thunder?

Awesome movie and he might have been the best part of it.

Yea, but he's wasn't a star in it. He had a bit part. Throw out the dancing horse **** at the end and he's in - what? - 10 minutes of the movie? And as I recall, he wasn't even billed in the flick when it opened.

A $15 million opening can be misleading at this time of the year. During the Summer, it would be a complete disaster, but it wouldn't surprise me if it makes $15-$25 million in the next week. This is such a big moviegoing week that a lot of movies frequently do better during the second week since every day this week is a big movie day. Having Christmas on a Tuesday will actually probably help. Anything under $100 mil domestically would be disappointing and it's probably not going to make that, but as Chris mentioned, he's still a big international draw and the movie will easily become profitable overseas.

As far as not being No. 1, there was no way in hell it was going to beat The Hobbit.

But an action flick with Cruise can't beat the second week run of the Hobbit? Money numbers aside. It was second. A distant second.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Cruise's part in Tropic Thunder wasn't supposed to be billed. It was a fun cameo. The movie was great across the board, but he was the "holy ****" moment.

Action films aren't what they used to be at the box office and haven't been for a long, long time... It's the sci-fi, adventure/fantasy/superhero stuff where all the money is.

 

[SpeedTchr]

The 100 trillion people who have read, and loved, the Reacher series are certainly not paying to see a movie with that dwarf playing their hero.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher was a bad idea. That could be part of the issue with this movie.

I agree with this. If you haven't read the books the name "Jack Reacher" means nothing to you.

If you have read the books, you know Reacher is a 6'6", menacing guy, and Cruise seems horribly miscast.

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

This is not what I thought this thread would be about.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher was a bad idea. That could be part of the issue with this movie.

I agree with this. If you haven't read the books the name "Jack Reacher" means nothing to you.

If you have read the books, you know Reacher is a 6'6", menacing guy, and Cruise seems horribly miscast.

So who should have played him? The Rock?

I do think it's funny that someone as short as Cruise would think he would be perfect for the role.