Is there any better way to celebrate a movie star than with a series of charts and statistics? Of course not! So while we at Grantland are spending the week analyzing Tom Cruise’s career and pitting his best performances against one other, come with me and take a dive into what everyone loves most about Cruise: numbers!
Before we can get to that sweet, sweet data, however, I have to introduce a few caveats. And while technicalities are no one’s idea of fun, they’re the only way to get to the truth.
Cruise’s box office numbers don’t include his bit parts and cameos, as determined by Box Office Mojo. So sorry, Tommy: You don’t get $213 million tacked onto your total lifetime gross (which stands at a whopping $3.39 billion, and that’s just in the U.S.) just because you had a few seconds of screen time in Austin Powers.
The stat about Cruise’s impact on sunglasses sales is also a little tricky. Obviously Cruise alone didn’t account for the sales increases, and most of the frames that saw jumps — especially Wayfarers — could have benefited from other, external factors. But let’s be honest: Is it really that much of a jump to say that Tom Cruise, once the epitome of cool, could have sold a few sunglasses?
Glad we got that out of the way. Now, from his award nominations to his motorcycle rides, check out the data behind Grantland’s favorite higher power.
Click here to vote in the Tom Cruise bracket!
Elias Stein
Elias Stein
Elias Stein
Elias Stein
Elias Stein
Elias Stein
Sources:
Total Box Office Gross: Box Office Mojo
Awards: IMDb
What Could Have Been: Not Starring and Grantland research
Cruise Effect on Sunglasses: Los Angeles Times
Motorcycles: Grantland research
Best/Worst Tom Cruise Movies: Box Office Mojo and Rotten Tomatoes