Couch jumping nut job, avid supporter of Scientology, one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, take your pick, Thomas Cruise Mapother IV is definitely not your average actor.

Over the course of 30 years Tom Cruise established himself as a true Hollywood star, the kind that is born, not made. From his famous Risky Business dance in 1983 to almost killing his career with that Oprah incident and finally Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol today, Hollywood is a lot less boring thanks to Tom Cruise. Here are the top 10 worldwide box office hits of his career unadjusted for inflation.

10. The Firm (1993) $270.2 million – Sydney Pollack’s thriller is the story of law school graduate Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise). He is offered a great job by ‘The Firm’, a sinister company with more than a few dubious clients. When the FBI gets involved and asks for his help, Mitch must make a choice that will change the rest of his life. If you haven’t seen The Firm yet definitely check it out.

9. Jerry Maguire (1996) $273.6 million – Successful sports agent Jerry Maguire has a moral epiphany, realizing the wrongs of his life and career. The next day he is fired by his boss and loses all his clients except a so-so football player Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr in an Oscar winning performance). Helped by a former secretary that still believed in him (Renee Zellweger), Jerry Maguire tries to rebuild his career from scratch. Among my favorites of all time, Jerry Maguire is great movie you have to see at least once in your life.

8. Top Gun (1986) $353.8 million – Arguably one of the most popular action movies of the 80′s, Top Gun put Tom Cruise on the map for good. Even after 25 years Top Gun is still an exhilarating film.

7. Rain Man (1988) $354.8 million – Rain Man is one of those instant classic films that you can watch over and over again, year after year. Dustin Hoffman here plays an autistic man in one of his most memorable roles, receiving an Oscar for his performance. In 1989 Rain Man also won Best Original Screenplay, Director and Movie.

6. Minority Report (2002) $358.4 million – The first collaboration between director Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise, Minority Report is a fantastic sci-Fi thriller, ranking up there among the best of the best in the genre.

5. Mission: Impossible 3 (2006) $397.9 million – My favorite Mission: Impossible before I saw Ghost Protocol, this was an action-packed spy film that featured the best villain in the series history. That villain is obviously Owen Davian played insanely well by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Directed by J. J. Abrams (Star Trek, Super 8), Mission: Impossible 3 didn’t receive from audiences as much love as it got from critics, making it the lowest grosser of the series.

4. The Last Samurai (2003) $456.8 million – An epic historical drama that’s often overlooked by many, The Last Samurai marks quite a departure for Tom Cruise. We’ve seen him playing a jet pilot, a parent and a super spy, but a samurai certainly wasn’t on anyone’s list. The plot is summed up perfectly on IMDB: “An American military advisor embraces the Samurai culture he was hired to destroy after he is captured in battle.”

3. Mission: Impossible (1996) $457.7 million – Based on the 60′s and 70′s popular TV show, this is the movie Tom Cruise wanted to make since he bought the rights to the franchise. Fortunately for everyone Mission: Impossible turned out great and spawned a series that’s still going even today, more than 15 years later.

2. Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) $546.4 million – Action director John Woo handled this hectic, extremely flawed but still very enjoyable movie. Mission: Impossible 2 became the highest grossing movie of 2000 worldwide and still ranks first in the series (Ghost Protocol might want to change that in the future).

1. War of the Worlds (2005) $591.7 million – Based on the popular H. G. Wells science fiction novel, this was the second collaboration between Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg. Now I saw this in theaters and honestly, I had no problems with it. It’s enjoyable and different enough from other alien-attack films. Certainly not a cinematic masterpiece, War of the Worlds is a good movie that I recommend you watch if you haven’t before.

This was just a part of Tom Cruise’s career and if you haven’t guessed yet, while not a fan of his personal life, I very much enjoy Tom Cruise the actor. Finally I’ll give a special mention to Risky Business, the 1983 comedy that put him on the radar but didn’t make it on this top 10.

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So all it took was a veteran animation director in Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and The Iron Giant) to resurrect the Mission: Impossible franchise to greatness. Why couldn’t someone track him down two installments ago?

The 133 minute fourth edition, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is simply the best in the series. Tom Cruise is in top-form and the team he surrounds himself with (Paula Patton, Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner) are with him stride-for-stride. Michael Nyqvist is also one of the better antagonists the franchise has seen, despite barely saying a word (to be fair, Phillip Seymour Hoffman was not given enough to do in the third flick).

Our espionage foreign adventure (travels through Russia, Dubai and India) sees Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) once again being recruited for his most important mission to date. His intelligence agency that signs his pay check, IMF, believes someone is attempting to start a nuclear war between Russia and the United States. Although there’s a legitimate chance to prevent all of this from unfolding, the elusive villain, going under the name Cobalt (Michael Nyqvist), is able to trigger tragic events that forces the U.S. President to shut down the IMF agency; leaving Hunt and his team (mentioned above) on their own, using very limited resources to stop a nuclear war.

Trust me; the synopsis is a bit more in-depth than the paragraph above. What is great about having Bird at the helm is that he finds the perfect speed to pace this action-caper. And he knows the exact point to explain what’s going on as the plot thickens through a variety of techniques (action, dialogue, killer new gadgets, etc.) that everyone in the audience can comprehend.

And the action is captivating! Not only is Cruise pushing himself to unbelievable limits, the rest of his cohorts are all jumping in on the ass-kicking fun. Well, except for Simon Pegg; his weapon of choice is his brilliant timing of all his sarcastic/funny lines while serving as the group’s techie. Plus, the camera – IMAX camera – is positioned so the entire scope of where the action is taking place can be viewed by the audience. Whether its fisticuffs or an assortment of chase sequences (ranging from the prototypical car jaunts to on foot in a sandstorm) they’re all clean even though their chaotic. A novel way to describe this piece is it has intense classy action; and there’s always something new around the corner. Many of the things they do here have never been seen in these types of flicks.

Besides the obvious hook of big-budget action spots, the interlude of dialogue and emotion is just as engaging in this extended thrill ride. When Bird has to slow down to make the next turn on this journey, he does it in a manner that is relaxing and exciting all at once. He basically sets the table properly and then serves one of hell of a five-course meal. Surprisingly, this spy-mystery chase is more appealing, and told more concisely than the recent Sherlock Holmes release.

And while this is still Tom Cruise’s show, he finds the ideal compliments – his supporting cast – and allows them to take over at the wheel when appropriate.

Overall, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is scary good. Tom Cruise is in the zone once again and this is by far the best directed piece in the series. Not to mention, the best directed action piece since…dare I say it? The Dark Knight.

Put it this way, yours truly had to desperately use the bathroom about 45 minutes in…And let’s just say my bladder suffered until the closing credits.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5

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Offspring Entertainment has released the first trailer of the much anticipated film adaptation of the rock musical Rock of Ages. Musicals, despite being released only once in a while and being an acquired taste, are still pretty popular among a diverse audience. This year’s The Muppets definitely gave strong message that musicals are alive and well, plus we’ve had some of the most interesting forms of musicals in recent years, such as Nine, Hairspray, and, of course, Sweeney Todd.

Rock of Ages, however, may gain a larger audience due to its familiar list of songs from some of the most popular rock bands of the 80s, plus with a star studded cast it’s safe to say even fans who aren’t fond of musicals may want to take a look. The aforementioned cast includes Tom Cruise, Malin Akerman, Bryan Cranston, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Alec Baldwin, Mary J. Blige, Paul Giamatti, Russell Brand, Julianne Hough (Footloose), and Diego Boneta (Paradise Lost), among others. Adam Shankman, who also directed the 2007 adaptation of Hairspray which turned into a surprise box office hit, directs the film.

Check out the trailer below:

Set in 1987 Los Angeles, Drew and Sherrie are two young people chasing their dreams in the big city. When they meet, it’s love at first sight, though their romance will face a series of challenges.

So as you can see, Rock of Ages definitely makes it known that the typical cliches of the 80s, from the sex symbol rock stars to the sense of style, are the main attraction, while the overall plot points are at a minimum to focus a little more on the soundtrack. Who can blame them when you have songs from legendary bands like Def Leppard or Journey as source material?

Probably the best part of the trailer, though, is the monumental, god-like status of Cruise’s rock star, Stacee Jaxx. We never hear him speak nor do we barely see his face (once or twice) but it’s still so effective, bringing a clever use of the “less is more” approach.

The rest of the trailer is pretty standard, showing samples to a few of the film’s musical numbers and introducing majority of the characters, but it still looks to be a fun spin on a genre that has such a limited audience, and promises that even non-musical fans will have a great time singing along to their favorite songs. If you’re a fan of rock and roll and a few comedic moments, definitely check out Rock of Ages.

Rock of Ages hits theatres on June 1, 2012.

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Paramount have unveiled the second official trailer for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. No Eminem backing track this time, but we see plenty of well polished action scenes and special effects money-shots, along with some throwbacks to the previous films.

Watch below:

When a terrorist bombing destroys the Kremlin, the United States government activates “Ghost Protocol” and disavows the entire Impossible Mission Force. Ethan Hunt and his team are blamed for the attack, but are allowed to escape as part of a plan to enable them to operate outside their agency. Hunt is warned that if any member of his team is captured or compromised, they will be charged as terrorists planning a nuclear strike. He is forced to work with fellow IMF agent Brandt, who knows much more about Hunt and his past than Hunt himself.

The Incredibles helmer Brad Bird is making his live-action directorial debut with the fourth film and Tom Cruise is once again joined by Simon Pegg, along with newcomers Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton (Precious) and Josh Holloway (Lost). Michael Nyqvist (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire) and Lea Seydoux (Inglourious Basterds) will play villains.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol will be released December 16th, 2011.

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Even though Jessica Chastain has filmed a number of movies over the past few years, timing has meant that they’ve all been hitting screens within a few months of each other. By the end of 2011 Chastain will have starred in 7 movies this year, which range from espionage thriller The Debt with Sam Worthington and Helen Mirren, Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life with Brad Pitt, Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus, and the runaway success which was The Help.

Going from nowhere to everywhere has the habit of attracting attention, and now Variety reports that Jessica Chastain has landed the female lead opposite Tom Cruise in Horizons.

The graphic novel on which the movie is based is set “in a future where the Earth’s surface has been irradiated beyond recognition and the remnants of humanity live above the clouds, safe from the brutal alien Scavengers that stalk the ruins. But when surface drone repairman Jack discovers a mysterious woman in a crash-landed pod, it sets off an unstoppable chain of events that will force him to question everything he knows.”

There are two key female characters in the story. Victoria, Jack’s right-hand woman and lover who serves as his eyes and ears while he’s on repair missions, and Julia, his fiancee on Earth before the alien invasion. Chastain’s role has yet to be revealed, but we should hear more when the second female role is cast. Olivia Wilde, Brit Marling and Noomi Rapace are all said to have tested for the roles.

Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy) is directing, and Universal has set a July 19, 2013 release date.

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After Disney dropped Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion Universal picked up the project, set Tom Cruise to star, and set a July 19, 2013 release date. Now according to Variety the studio has changed the title to Horizons (something Disney considered when it was with them) and they’re now searching for two female leads.

As we’ve come to expect with big budget tentpoles, none of the actresses are above the age of 35 and it’s all very vanilla. The names said to be testing soon include Brit Marling, Olivia Wilde, Jessica Chastain, Noomi Rapace and Olga Kurylenko.

Wilde being considered makes sense since she worked with Kosinski on Tron: Legacy, and Cruise met with Noomi Rapace for Mission Impossible 4 but she decided to appear in Sherlock Holmes 2 instead. Chastain is hot property at the moment after starring in Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life and The Help, while Marling was the breakout star of this year’s Sundance Film Festival having co-written and starred in both Another Earth and Sound of My Voice. Olga Kurylenko is best known for playing Bond girl Camille in Quantum of Solace.

The graphic novel on which the movie is based is set “in a future where the Earth’s surface has been irradiated beyond recognition and the remnants of humanity live above the clouds, safe from the brutal alien Scavengers that stalk the ruins. But when surface drone repairman Jack discovers a mysterious woman in a crash-landed pod, it sets off an unstoppable chain of events that will force him to question everything he knows.”

The two key female characters include Victoria, Jack’s right-hand woman and lover who serves as his eyes and ears while he’s on repair missions, and Julia, his fiancee on Earth before the alien invasion.

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Earlier this week it was reported that Hayley Atwell (Captain America), Alexa Davalos (Clash of the Titans), and Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day) were in contention to play the female lead in Christopher McQuarrie‘s One Shot, an adaptation of Lee Child‘s bestselling crime novel.

Well Deadline has word that Pike is now in negotiations, and the actress will star opposite Tom Cruise in the film.

Cruise is playing Jack Reacher, a retired military policeman who wanders the country with only his passport, bankbook, toothbrush and the clothes on his back. He finds his way into scrapes, taking the side of the underdog. In One Shot, Reacher investigates a case in which a lone sniper murders five victims before being captured. Reacher discovers it’s more than a simple open-and-shut case. Pike will play Helen Rodin, a local defense attorney defending the man arrested for the shootings. She works with Reacher to bring the true culprits to justice.

Pike has most recently starred in Made in Dagenham, Surrogates, and An Education, and will be seen next March as Andromeda in Wrath of the Titans.

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Paramount today released the first official trailer for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and it looks fantastic. Putting an Eminem song over a trailer filled with exploding buildings, dust storms and gun fights doesn’t work on paper, but strangely it works here.

Watch below:

When a terrorist bombing destroys the Kremlin, the United States government activates “Ghost Protocol” and disavows the entire Impossible Mission Force. Ethan Hunt and his team are blamed for the attack, but are allowed to escape as part of a plan to enable them to operate outside their agency. Hunt is warned that if any member of his team is captured or compromised, they will be charged as terrorists planning a nuclear strike. He is forced to work with fellow IMF agent Brandt, who knows much more about Hunt and his past than Hunt himself.

The Incredibles helmer Brad Bird is making his live-action directorial debut with the fourth film and Tom Cruise is once again joined by Simon Pegg, along with newcomers Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton (Precious) and Josh Holloway (Lost). Michael Nyqvist (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire) and Lea Seydoux (Inglourious Basterds) will play villains.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol will be released December 16th, 2011.

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According to Deadline Universal will release Despicable Me 2 on July 3, 2013. The first film featured the voice of Steve Carell and made nearly $550 million worldwide.

The studio has also set a July 19, 2013 release date for Oblivion, which will be directed by Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski. Tom Cruise will play an ex-soldier who is the last survivor on an Earth devastated by a war with an alien race. The solider discovers a mysterious woman in a crash-landed pod, and it sets off an unstoppable chain of events that will force him to question everything he knows.

So far they are the only movies set for release in July 2013, however Pixar’s Monsters. Inc prequel Monsters University will hit on June 21, less than two weeks before Despicable Me 2.

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When Universal picked up Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion after Disney bailed earlier this year there was talk of Tom Cruise circling the project, and now Deadline has confirmed that Cruise will indeed star in the film.

The graphic novel on which the movie is based is set “in a future where the Earth’s surface has been irradiated beyond recognition and the remnants of humanity live above the clouds, safe from the brutal alien Scavengers that stalk the ruins. But when surface drone repairman Jak discovers a mysterious woman in a crash-landed pod, it sets off an unstoppable chain of events that will force him to question everything he knows.”

Kosinski, who last directed Tron Legacy for Disney, will begin shooting Oblivion in October with a budget of around $100 million. Cruise’s last sci-fi movie was Spielberg’s War of the Worlds in 2005, so it’ll be interesting to see the actor back in the genre with a cool concept like this. Cruise will be seen in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in December and is currently filming the musical Rock of Ages.

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