Tom Cruise’s legacy as one of the greatest stars in Hollywood history was cemented with the explosive final outing for his legendary Ethan Hunt, as Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning continues to draw big crowds at the global box office. Having already earned $360 million worldwide, split between $129.3 million in domestic revenue and $231.2 million from overseas markets, the Christopher McQuarrie-directed final outing would be the big hit of the early summer box office, were it not for Disney’s live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch.
Thanks to this sustained success over its opening two weeks in theaters, The Final Reckoning has now helped its leading action hero take down another milestone in his accomplished career, as he officially moves up to #22 in the global lifetime box-office rankings. Another $200 million separates Cruise from the #20 spot, occupied by Paul Bettany, with Bradley Cooper currently in between the pair. However, to take this higher spot in the list, Cruise had to surpass another Hollywood icon in his Born on the Fourth of July co-star and one of the busiest actors in the business, Willem Dafoe.
$4 million now separates the pair, with The Final Reckoning‘s likely continued ascent to further box-office heights sure to expand that gap. Cruise has also produced roughly half the total films of Dafoe, with most being major blockbuster titles such as the Mission: Impossible franchise. However, Dafoe is sure to come back fighting, with a host of projects in the works for the four-time Academy Award nominee – Miguel Ángel Jiménez‘s The Birthday Party; Late Fame, alongside Greta Lee; Nadia Latif‘s The Man in My Basement; and opposite British actor Tom Hiddleston in Tenzing.
How Did ‘Born on the Fourth of July’ Perform at the Box Office?
For a movie to be considered even slightly financially successful, it is required to double its reported production budget at the box office. Born on the Fourth of July passed this test with flying colors, earning five times its estimated $14 million budget with a domestic total of just over $70 million. When the movie first debuted in late 1989, it aptly opened in just four theaters, making for a skewed figure that suggests the film’s opening weekend was a disaster. In fact, when it finally opened to nationwide audiences, Born on the Fourth of July became a must-watch movie of the early 1990s, topping the domestic charts in its first three weeks.
Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning is playing now in theaters. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for more box office updates.