Tom Cruise's Stunts Are Costing Hollywood A Ridiculous Amount Of Money

Summary

Tom Cruise's impressive stunts may thrill fans, but they come with a hefty price tag and financial risks behind the scenes.
His latest Olympic stunt cost an additional $70 million and halted production for nine weeks, showing the potential consequences.
Cruise's dedication to doing his own stunts not only impacts film budgets, but also highlights his unique approach to filmmaking.

He has a net worth of $600 million, yet Tom Cruise remains hungrier than ever before. He was the talk of the Olympics closing ceremony, suspended in the air as millions were watching in awe at home. In truth, stunts are cool to watch, but they also come with insane costs behind the scenes.

Not only is the prep and training expensive, but if an accident is to take place, lawsuits and reshoots can further complicate things, especially from a financial standpoint. Although fans know and love Cruise for his stunts, the actor has put Hollywood in a tough spot in the past because of it.

Let's take a closer look at the impact of Tom's stunts from a financial standpoint, and other problems that emerged.

Tom Cruise's Stunt Injury During Mission: Impossible Ballooned The Budget To $250 Million (Added $70 Million)

At the age of 62, Tom Cruise is still in the headlines for his stunts. This time, he took things to the next level, performing a stunt at one of the biggest stages in the world at the Olympic Games. The moment was one fans won't ever forget. However, we can only imagine the planning that went into it, along with the costs attached. Yes, the stunts are great to watch, but they don't come cheap either. Tom knows all about that...

Let's not forget, there's a major risk involved in every stunt Tom Cruise takes on. During Mission: Impossible–Fallout (2018), production stopped for nine weeks. Suddenly, the budget went up to $70 million! Which is a massive budget in itself for a film alone. That's really what you get when it comes to Tom Cruise and his films. The actor does things his way, even with massive risks involved. During Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part I (2023), the film adjusted to the risk. Cruise's dangerous motorcycle stunt was filmed at the start in fear it would skyrocket the budget near the end of the film.

Variety wrote, “If production on the $200 million-plus tentpole was already underway and Cruise got severely injured or died because of the motorcycle stunt, then a lot of money would’ve been wasted.”

Then there's the training involved and the cost of that part of it. Cruise's films tend to be extremely expensive and, some might say, over-budget.

Tom Cruise told Jimmy Fallon his worst injury came from kicking a co-star in his private area.

Top Gun: Maverick co-star Miles Teller won't call it over-budget and instead, admits that working with Tom Cruise is no joke, and unlike anything he has ever experienced.

"I think the reason why Tom does this stuff is because when the audience knows that it’s really you and there’s no cutaways, that the level of immersion you get as a viewer, as a voyeur, is elevated. So I’m open to it, but also, I’ve got injured on some films doing some weird things, and when you have a perfectly good stunt guy, I don’t want to put him out of a job, you know? That’s just me being an honest guy," Teller tells CinemaBlend.

On one hand, there's risk, and on the other hand, there's the massive reward that comes with working alongside Tom Cruise. Like Teller revealed, it involves getting out of your comfort zone, while the box office numbers usually make up for that budget.

Tom Cruise Is Instead Taking A Stand Against Hollywood For Different Reasons

Tom Cruise has his own bone to pick with Hollywood. Nevermind the actor's stunts, instead, Cruise has concerns of his own over the future of the industry. So much so that Cruise joined SAG-AFTRA discussing the future of AI in Hollywood. Cruise was looking for new guideline in TV and film for AI use, along with performers getting compensated if the tech is used. Cruise also demanded consent for AI content being used.

Google was forced to remove an AI commercial at the Olympics given the backlash it received from fans and media.

Fans were able to rejoice as Keanu Reeves shares the same concerns. Keanu Reeves himself admits he won't do a film that features deepfakes.

Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves — A screenshot of Tom Cruise, along with a closeup of Keanu Reeves

"Early on, in the early 2000s, or it might have been the ’90s, I had a performance changed,” Reeves recalled with Wired. “They added a tear to my face, and I was just like, ‘Huh?!’ It was like, ‘I don’t even have to be here.'”

He added, “What’s frustrating about that is you lose your agency. When you give a performance in a film, you know you’re going to be edited, but you’re participating in that. If you go into deepfake land, it has none of your points of view. That’s scary. It’s going to be interesting to see how humans deal with these technologies. They’re having such cultural, sociological impacts, and the species is being studied. There’s so much ‘data’ on behaviors now.”

Along with the concerns, use of AI and deepfakes can also be very costly behind the scenes, and another way of skyrocketing costs for a film.