Tom Cruise is about to cash in again, and the number being tied to ‘Top Gun 3’ is big enough to make even superstar athletes look underpaid.
According to reports, Cruise is set to earn a staggering $135.24 million for the next ‘Top Gun’ movie, a figure that would put his paycheck above what several of the world’s biggest sports names made across all of 2025. That includes stars with huge contracts, endorsement deals, and global brand power. Cruise, at 63, is still playing in a financial league that very few people can touch.
Tom Cruise’s ‘Top Gun 3’ Payday Is on Another Level
Cruise is expected to return as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in ‘Top Gun 3’, following the massive success of 2022’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’. That sequel turned into one of the biggest box office stories of the decade and proved that Cruise is still one of the few stars who can put people in seats on name value alone.
Now the reported payout for the third film is turning just as many heads as the movie itself. An unnamed Paramount executive reportedly said the profit-sharing deal is especially generous because David Ellison, who produced ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ through Skydance and now owns Paramount, believes Cruise is worth every cent. The same source added that there is confidence the next movie could clear $1 billion at the box office.
Cruise is not just starring. He is also expected to produce, which helps explain why the number is so huge. His reported earnings from ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ were already around $101 million. This new figure pushes things to a different level.
His Movie Check Beats What These Sports Giants Made
The reported ‘Top Gun 3’ payday is higher than the full 2025 earnings of 10 major athletes, including salary and outside deals.
That list includes Juan Soto at $114 million, Karim Benzema at $104 million, Shohei Ohtani at $102 million, Kevin Durant at $101 million, Oleksandr Usyk at $101 million, Jon Rahm at $100 million, Giannis Antetokounmpo at $94 million, Scottie Scheffler at $92 million, Deshaun Watson at $91 million, and Kylian Mbappé at $90 million.
That is the part that really sticks. These are not fringe names. These are some of the biggest athletes in the world, and Cruise’s reported movie payday still clears all of them.
There is also a simple message underneath all this. Cruise may be in his 60s, but Hollywood is still treating him like one of its safest blockbuster bets. As long as he keeps delivering giant theatrical hits, the checks are going to stay absurd.
