Box office performance remains a thorny issue in Hollywood, where profits often dictate green lights.
Cinema attendance fell by 8.8 percent globally in 2024, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory.
While some films – such as Barbie – raked in record-breaking numbers, others, including Killers of the Flower Moon and The Fall Guy, underperformed financially despite critical acclaim.
Directors such as Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan have pushed back against box office obsession.
Scorsese, 82, said: “The cost of a movie is one thing. Understand that a film costs a certain amount, they expect to at least get the amount back… the emphasis is now on numbers, cost, the opening weekend, how much it made in the USA, how much it made in England, how much it made in Asia, how much it made in the entire world, how many viewers it got.”
Nolan, 54, echoed the sentiment, saying: “The life of the movie is a much longer proposition… you look at other people’s films and indeed your own films in decades, not in weekends.”
Still, Cruise’s camp knows his value.
Our source said: “Just like everyone else, Tom knows there isn’t really a Top Gun franchise without him.
“Whether Paramount meets his price remains to be seen – but one thing is certain: Cruise is flying high, and he’s not coming down cheaply.”
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