30 Years Ago, Tom Cruise Starred in the Movie That Changed His Career
30 years ago today, Tom Cruise rebooted a popular spy TV series from the '60s and changed his entire career in the process.
On May 22, 1996, the first Mission: Impossible film dropped into theaters with the same force as Ethan Hunt infiltrating CIA headquarters through an air vent. Made for just $80 million, the movie was a box office smash, eventually pulling in $457,696,391 worldwide.
With that, a franchise was born. Now consisting of eight films (and counting), the series as a whole has made a combined $4.7 billion worldwide. It's also cemented Cruise as a bona fide action star, while the filmmakers were tasked with putting him in increasingly insane stunts movie after movie.
Tom Cruise, Action Star
Prior to the first Mission: Impossible movie, Cruise had a few action movies under his belt-including Top Gun, Days of Thunder, and the fantasy flick Legend-but it's this franchise that really solidified his status as one of the action movie greats.
On the heels of dramas like The Firm, A Few Good Men, Far and Away, and Interview with the Vampire, the massive success of the Mission: Impossible films led to Cruise headlining numerous blockbusters. Among them: Minority Report, War of the Worlds, Knight and Day, and two Jack Reacher films.
He also built a reputation for his death-defying stunt work in the Mission: Impossible films, often throwing himself into situations that many other actors would likely have their stunt doubles perform. He's scaled Dubai's infamous 2,722-foot Burj Khalifa, hung from the side of an Airbus 400, parachuted from a motorcycle after driving it off a cliff, and swung from the side of a biplane.
Only once has production been shut down after Cruise was injured filming one of his own stunts, after the actor broke his ankle jumping from a building while making 2018's Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
When asked at an event in Cannes in 2022 why he puts himself in peril for his films, Cruise said: "No one asked Gene Kelly, ‘Why do you dance?'"
He added: "I always thought there's something that I can do and I wanted to push the art form, I thought, ‘How can I immerse an audience into a movie with this kind of action? And how can I entertain them? What can I do?'"
‘Mission: Impossible' Franchise History
The Mission: Impossible franchise has certainly come a long way since the first Brian De Palma-directed film came out in 1996. So far, five different directors have tackled the series, cast members have popped in and out of the franchise throughout its run, and every film seems to be on a mission to outdo the last.
A sequel, helmed by John Woo, dropped in 2000 and made nearly $90 million more than its predecessor. Co-starring Thandiwe Newton and Dougray Scott, Mission: Impossible 2 is considered the weakest in the series.
J.J. Abrams revitalized the franchise with the third film in 2006, which saw Simon Pegg, Maggie Q, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers join Cruise's Hunt and Ving Rhames' Luther Stickell as fellow IMF agents.
Other than Cruise, Rhames is the only actor to have appeared in every Mission: Impossible film. Pegg, meanwhile, became a permanent member of Ethan's team from the third movie through the most recent.
From there, the franchise was on a critical and financial roll, with Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation, and Fallout all pulling in the highest box office receipts of the series.
While Rogue Nation introduced fans to Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust and brought director Christopher McQuarrie into the fold, Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and Vanessa Kirby all came on board for Fallout. The latter had the highest box-office gross of the series, taking in $791,657,398 in 2018.
McQuarrie has directed every film since Rogue Nation, facing an uphill battle amid the COVID-19 pandemic when it came time to make Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. The budget ballooned thanks to COVID shutdowns and other production issues, and, despite high scores from critics, became the second-lowest-grossing film in the series domestically.
The movie also introduced a slew of new characters, played by Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, and Cary Elwes.
Released in 2025, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning fared a bit better than its predecessor-taking in $197 million domestically and nearly $600 million worldwide-but still placed second at the box office on opening weekend, behind Lilo & Stitch.
The Final Reckoning was billed as the last Mission: Impossible movie, with Cruise telling The Hollywood Reporter at the film's premiere, "It's the final! It's not called ‘final' for nothing."
That being said, he added, "I will never stop doing action."
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
2026 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 7:00 AM.