Because he’s still a bona fide movie star who makes movies normal people want to see, Tom Cruise could earn a record $200 million for Top Gun: Maverick, reports Celebrity Net Worth.

This would not only be an all-time record, but it would also shatter the previous record, which Bruce Willis had held for nearly a quarter-century. In 1999, Willis negotiated a $14 million acting fee, 17% of the worldwide gross (not net), and ended up with $120 million after The Sixth Sense became a global phenomenon.

Cruise has twice run away with $100 million. Once in 2000 for Mission: Impossible 2 and again in 2005 for War of the Worlds.

For Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise was paid an up-front acting fee of $13 million and will receive 20 percent of the gross (not net) worldwide box office.

The sequel to the iconic 1986 blockbuster has already grossed $300 million worldwide, so Cruise has earned $73 million.

Something to keep in mind is that this $300 million was earned in four short days, and Top Gun: Maverick won’t face any real competition until June 10, when Jurassic World Dominion hits theaters. So basically, if the Top Gun sequel earns $1 billion worldwide, which is very possible, that’s $213 million straight into Cruise’s pockets.

And that’s just the beginning…

What piece of the ancillary will Cruise earn? How much of the home video, streaming, merchandise, video game, and global TV sales?

Now try to imagine his payday for Top Gun 3.

Even during his public relations troubles more than 15 years ago, I never stopped believing in Tom Cruise. Through it all, he has always delivered… That is what a movie star does; that’s job number one… Your audience has to trust your choices and trust that you will never let them down. Unlike most modern actors, Cruise gets this. Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Joan Crawford, Denzel Washington, Cary Grant, and Bette Davis understood this. If you want to be a legend with a long career, you cannot disappoint your audience.

Something else you can never do is insult or talk down to your audience, which brings me to Woke…

All this woketardery is killing more careers than we can count, many of them before they get started. Woke movies insult audiences. Woke movies lecture and talk down to their audiences. Woke movies break the storytelling spell by inserting preachy agendas and fake ideas (mostly about sexuality and gender) that violate human nature.

Cruise doesn’t do that. He never has. He also protects his image—no mouthing off on social media. Everything is tightly controlled to ensure Cruise looks good and the public never tires of his presence on TV or in the tabloids.

He delivers, and now he’s enjoying the biggest hit of his 40-year career and, potentially, the biggest payday in Hollywood history.

Will Hollywood sit up and take notice?

Nope. Hollywood is too far gone. Woke McCarthyism rules the entertainment business, and everyone will make excuses for this success instead of reproducing it through the simple act of giving the customers a lecture-free two hours of escapism, adventure, romance, and inspiration.

Hopefully, Cruise will continue to deliver. He’s so rich he can do whatever he wants. 

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.