Tom Cruise could make an insane amount of money from Top Gun: Maverick thanks to the sequel’s incredible box office success. Over 30 years after Cruise last played Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in the original Top Gun, the actor finally returned to his iconic role in the long-awaited (and long-delayed) sequel. Top Gun: Maverick is directed by Joseph Kosinski and brings Cruise’s Maverick back for another dangerous mission where he leads a new generation of pilots, led by Goose’s son Rooster (Miles Teller). Paramount held out on selling the sequel to a streaming service during the pandemic with the hopes that it would be a box office hit.

Paramount got its wish, and Top Gun: Maverick is currently the biggest box office success story of 2022. The movie over-performed in its Memorial Day weekend opening to make over $160 million domestically. However, the true success of Top Gun: Maverick‘s box office has been seen in the weeks that followed, as the film has yet to have a weekend-to-weekend drop of more than 43 percent. Cruise’s sequel is the highest-grossing movie of the year domestically and worldwide, as Top Gun 2 also became the star’s first billion-dollar movie.

According to a new report from Puck News, Cruise could earn close to $100 million from Top Gun: Maverick due to his contract. The outlet reports that Cruise was paid $12.5M as a base salary, but he also stands to make 10 percent of the movie’s first-dollar gross “with escalators that increase his percentage at certain milestones.” The star’s backend pay does not kick in until Paramount has earned $125M in revenue, but that will not be an issue for Cruise’s billion-dollar film. Between the theatrical performance and what the movie will earn in rentals and streaming. Puck News estimates an $80 to 90M payday for Cruise based on Top Gun: Maverick.

How much Cruise is paid for Top Gun: Maverick might take some time to properly sort out, but there is no question the film has been a huge hit for all parties involved. Paramount is on a great roll at the box office this year, and Hollywood is generally elated that their latest blockbuster has been another sign that theatrical business is returning to pre-pandemic form. Meanwhile, Cruise has the potential to be paid quite handsomely if these reports are accurate.

After refusing to make Top Gun 2 for many years, it is quite clear that Cruise held out for the Pete Mitchell’s perfect return. Top Gun: Maverick‘s reviews are among the best of both this year and the actor’s career, as the film was found almost universally to be a moving, crowd-pleasing blockbuster. The action/flight sequences also proved to be incredibly thrilling and another sign of the limits Cruise is willing to go to give audiences some excitement. Now in addition to the movie’s other various success stories, Cruise’s pay day for Top Gun: Maverick is the cherry on top.