Tom Cruise is one of the most successful Hollywood actors of all time. At the age of 60, he hasn’t slowed down and is hugely successful, being announced as one of the highest-paid actors in the industry. When one drops names like Mission Impossible and Tropic Thunder in the mix, it’s clear to see that he has earned that top spot.
It’s no doubt that action films are his favorite and Top Gun: Maverick alone grossed over $1.4 billion to date. Not bad for a sequel that came out almost 36 years after the initial movie was released. All that being said, there is a rather unusual clause Tom Cruise insists upon in all his movie contracts. Rather odd and seemingly counterproductive, he has good reason.
Cinema lovers flock to Tom Cruise’s movies on the big screen, his fan base is massive
People queue for tickets to Tom Cruise’s movies. They flock to premieres to catch a glimpse of the on-screen hero. There is however a massive fan base that’s not being tapped into and it’s all due to one rule. Action figures have been popular since their conception. They are memoirs of one’s favorite movie or actor, sometimes even growing into massive franchises. They grace the shelves of toy shops, collector’s cabinets, and counters alike, all scooped up by adoring fans.
You would imagine due to his large audience of fans, that the production of memorabilia is a given, but Tom Cruise has other ideas. The Mission Impossible star has a clause in all of his contracts stipulating that no merchandise which has a likeness to the star may be produced. This takes anything with Tom Cruise’s face off the table.
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The star refused the production of merchandise for his 2006 role in Edge of Tomorrow. He apparently also refused to have his image used on anything for the Mission: Impossible III and War of the Worlds PlayStation games. The character in the 2002 Minority Report game had a blonde head of hair to differentiate him from the actual brunette actor. MTV claimed that his agents refused commentary on the subject at the time.
The market for unofficial merchandise does exist, but none bare any collector’s value
There is a host of unofficial merchandise out there, but nothing holds the official licensing by Tom Cruise. This means that the actual collector’s value of these items is minimal at best. It may seem like a strange request by Cruise, but he’s not the only one.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has had some rather odd requests. One example would be on production of the Fast and Furious franchise. His request was that his character never lost a fight with Vin Diesel and Jason Statham in the film’s action scenes. So there you have it. Actors can be odd.
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