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At a time when movies think they have to choose between action and ideas, Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" is a triumph--a film that works on our minds and our emotions. It is a thriller and a human story, a movie of ideas that's also a whodunit. Here is a master filmmaker at the top of his form, working with a star, Tom Cruise , who generates complex human feelings even while playing an action hero.

I complained earlier this summer of awkward joins between live action and CGI; I felt the action sequences in " Spider-Man " looked too cartoonish, and that "Star Wars Episode II," by using computer effects to separate the human actors from the sets and CGI characters, felt disconnected and sterile. Now here is Spielberg using every trick in the book and matching them without seams, so that no matter how he's achieving his effects, the focus is always on the story and the characters.

The movie turns out to be eerily prescient, using the term "pre-crime" to describe stopping crimes before they happen; how could Spielberg have known the government would be using the same term this summer? In his film, inspired by but much expanded from a short story by Philip K. Dick , Tom Cruise is John Anderton, chief of the Department of Pre-Crime in the District of Columbia, where there has not been a murder in six years. Soon, it appears, there will be a murder--committed by Anderton himself.

The year is 2054. Futuristic skyscrapers coexist with the famous Washington monuments and houses from the 19th century. Anderton presides over an operation controlling three "Pre-Cogs," precognitive humans who drift in a flotation tank, their brain waves tapped by computers. They're able to pick up thoughts of premeditated murders and warn the cops, who swoop down and arrest the would-be perpetrators before the killings can take place.

Because this is Washington, any government operation that is high-profile and successful inspires jealousy. Anderton's superior, bureau director Burgess (Max von Sydow) takes pride in him, and shields him from bureaucrats like Danny Witwer ( Colin Farrell ), from the Justice Department. As the pre-crime strategy prepares to go national, Witwer seems to have doubts about its wisdom--or he is only jealous of its success? Spielberg establishes these characters in a dazzling future world, created by art director Alex McDowell, that is so filled with details large and small that we stop trying to figure out everything and surrender with a sigh. Some of the details: a computer interface that floats in mid-air, manipulated by Cruise with the gestures of a symphony conductor; advertisements that crawl up the sides of walls and address you personally; cars that whisk around town on magnetic cushions; robotic "spiders" that can search a building in minutes by performing a retinal scan on everyone in it. " Blade Runner ," also inspired by a Dick story, shows a future world in decay; "Minority Report" offers a more optimistic preview.

The plot centers on a rare glitch in the visions of the Pre-Cogs. Although "the Pre-Cogs are never wrong," we're told, "sometimes ... they disagree." The dissenting Pre-Cog is said to have filed a minority report, and in the case of Anderton the report is crucial, because otherwise he seems a certain candidate for arrest as a pre-criminal. Of course, if you could outsmart the Pre-Cog system, you would have committed the perfect crime...

Finding himself the hunted instead of the hunter, Anderton teams up with Agatha ( Samantha Morton ), one of the Pre-Cogs, who seemed to be trying to warn him of his danger. Because she floats in a fluid tank, Agatha's muscles are weakened (have Pre-Cogs any rights of their own?) and Anderton has to half-drag her as they flee from the pre-crime police. One virtuoso sequence shows her foreseeing the immediate future and advising Anderton about what to do to elude what the cops are going to do next. The choreography, timing and wit of this sequence make it, all by itself, worth the price of admission.

But there are other stunning sequences. Consider a scene where the "spiders" search a rooming house, and Anderton tries to elude capture by immersing himself in a tub of ice water. This sequence begins with an overhead cross-section of the apartment building and several of its inhabitants, and you would swear it has to be done with a computer, but no: This is an actual physical set, and the elegant camera moves were elaborately choreographed. It's typical of Spielberg that, having devised this astonishing sequence, he propels it for dramatic purposes and doesn't simply exploit it to show off his cleverness. And watch the exquisite timing as one of the spiders, on its way out, senses something and pauses in mid-step.

Tom Cruise's Anderton is an example of how a star's power can be used to add more dimension to a character than the screenplay might supply. He compels us to worry about him, and even in implausible action sequences (like falls from dizzying heights) he distracts us by making us care about the logic of the chase, not the possibility of the stunt.

Samantha Morton's character (is 'Agatha' a nod to Miss Christie?) has few words and seems exhausted and frightened most of the time, providing an eerie counterpoint for Anderton's man of action. There is poignancy in her helplessness, and Spielberg shows it in a virtuoso two-shot, as she hangs over Anderton's shoulder while their eyes search desperately in opposite directions. This shot has genuine mystery. It has to do with the composition and lighting and timing and breathing, and like the entire movie it furthers the cold, frightening hostility of the world Anderton finds himself in. The cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski , who has worked with Spielberg before (not least on " Schindler's List "), is able to get an effect that's powerful and yet bafflingly simple.

The plot I will avoid discussing in detail. It is as ingenious as any film noir screenplay, and plays fair better than some. It's told with such clarity that we're always sure what Spielberg wants us to think, suspect and know. And although there is a surprise at the end, there is no cheating: The crime story holds water.

American movies are in the midst of a transition period. Some directors place their trust in technology. Spielberg, who is a master of technology, trusts only story and character, and then uses everything else as a workman uses his tools. He makes "Minority Report" with the new technology; other directors seem to be trying to make their movies from it. This film is such a virtuoso high-wire act, daring so much, achieving it with such grace and skill. "Minority Report" reminds us why we go to the movies in the first place.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Minority Report (2002)

Rated PG-13 For Violence, Brief Language, Some Sexuality and Drug Content

145 minutes

Tom Cruise as John Anderton

Samantha Morton as Agatha

Max von Sydow as Director Burgess

Colin Farrell as Danny Witwer

Tim Blake Nelson as Gideon

Directed by

• Steven Spielberg
• Scott Frank

Based on the story by

• Philip K. Dick

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Minority Report

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Watch Minority Report with a subscription on Paramount+, Apple TV+, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

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Thought-provoking and visceral, Steven Spielberg successfully combines high concept ideas and high octane action in this fast and febrile sci-fi thriller.

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Steven Spielberg

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Colin Farrell

Danny Witwer

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‘minority report’: thr’s 2002 review.

On June 21, 2002, Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise unveiled the thriller 'Minority Report' in theaters.

By Kirk Honeycutt

Kirk Honeycutt

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On June 21, 2002, Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise unveiled the thriller Minority Report in theaters, where it became a summer hit and, later, an enduring sci-fi  classic. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below: 

All good science fiction is really a speculation about social and political trends. Thus, Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report , a rousing film-noir suspenser set in a world of labor-saving devices and McLuhan-esque technology, is a thought-provoking inquiry into just how far we as a society want to go to make our environment safe.

Spielberg poses the question in one of his most compelling and entertaining films ever. Following A.I. Artificial Intelligence , he continues to push into new fictional terrain that is grittier, creepier and edgier than the warm-and-fuzzy science fiction of his early career. And he is willing to leave an audience unsettled. Even with something of a happy ending, Minority Report  is the most troubling kind of speculative fiction. There is much to absorb here, almost too much for a single viewing, which probably means the kind of repeat business on which box-office bonanzas are built.

For star Tom Cruise, too, the point of reference is his last film, Vanilla Sky , where he also played a man caught in a technological nightmare in which his very identity and destiny get thrown into confusion. While going over the top in that film, here he delivers one of his most controlled and suggestive performances. Pain and hysteria stay bottled up within his character, a man who completely buys into a crime-prevention system then finds himself outside that system, battling the very thing that gave him self-worth.

A complex, intricate screenplay by Scott Frank and Jon Cohen derives from a story by sci-fi master Philip K. Dick. The film takes place in Washington a half-century from now. Cruise’s chief John Anderton heads an experimental Pre-Crime unit, which takes advantage of a freak scientific accident that produced three psychic human beings, who can see murders before they occur.

In Pre-Crime headquarters, these “Pre-Cogs,” bathed in biological fluids and drugged into a semi-comatose state, channel horrific visions of the future into a computer. John brings these images up on a large glass screen, where he can separate and analyze the pictures to glean clues about the “victims,” the “murderers” and sites of these crimes, thereby preventing them from ever happening. In six years, the Pre-Cogs have never been wrong. Or have they?

(This elite unit operates only in the D.C. area, but the government plans to take the system nationwide. The major plot hole is that nothing explains why the psychic abilities of the Pre-Cogs extends only as far as D.C. or how the government intends to expand those abilities across the nation.)

John is a man on a mission. He lost a small son six years before and, haunted by that crime, buries himself in crime prevention. Then suddenly, the Pre-Cogs insist he will murder a stranger within 36 hours, forcing him to run from his own unit. A rival FBI agent (Colin Farrell) is also hot on his trail, a pursuit made all the easier by the fact that his Magnetic-Levitation car can be controlled by others, and scanners throughout the city track anyone’s whereabouts by scanning the eyes.

As John runs, he must figure out not only why he would kill a total stranger but — if he is indeed being set up — what this has to do with his tragic past, his boss (Max von Sydow ), estranged wife (Kathryn Morris) and a research scientist (Lois Smith) who developed the Pre-Cogs.

The film has several amazing set pieces few filmmakers could pull off. There is a terrific chase between Cruise and his own elite police force through mean inner-city streets and into a robotics car factory. In a later sequence, a disguised Cruise must break into Pre-Crime headquarters and spirit away a Pre-Cog, Agatha (Samantha Morton), who holds the key to his salvation. There is also a very creepy sequence in which a doctor (Peter Stormare ), operating — literally — outside the law, performs a dual eye transplant on Cruise in the grimiest of tenements.

While Cruise anchors the movie, a brave performance by Morton and rock-solid supporting work give the movie extra ballast. Shorn of hair and eyebrows, Morton is a fragile figure, waif-like yet willfully determined to have a hand in her own liberation despite a time-continuum confusion. Farrell is suitably oily as an antagonist who is not quite a villain but might have resisted the cliches of gum chewing and a three-day beard. For von Sydow , this is an overly familiar performance, but Smith and Stormare offer off-center personalities that enliven their individual scenes.

The details of this future world filter out as part of the film’s narrative drive rather than as show-off effects. One of John Williams’ subtlest scores in years, somewhat reminiscent of the work Bernard Herrmann did for Hitchcock, brings a certain amount of tension without his usual lush orchestrations. Longtime Spielberg cinematographer Janusz Kaminski’s de-saturated color pulls all the disparate worlds — the scruffy streets, cold and gleaming interiors, magnetic highways and the womb-like Pre-Cog Chamber — into a dark, unified whole.

As more aspects of science and crime-fighting in this future society emerge, the film probes the moral underpinnnings . The Orwellian nature of the new technology is obvious, but Spielberg sees this less as the intrusion of Big Brother than Big Business. The eye scans, useful to police, are vital to commercial interests to track customers. Technology is not necessarily the enemy — homes spring to life in helpful, efficient ways — but privacy vanishes. — Kirk Honeycutt , originally published on June 17, 2002.

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15 Major Facts About 'Minority Report'

It was the first Hollywood movie to feature a completely digital production design.

By Roger Cormier | Mar 11, 2024, 1:31 PM EDT

The 2002 movie Minority Report was a long-planned collaboration between actor Tom Cruise and director Steven Spielberg. Based on Philip K. Dick’s short story of the same name, the movie explores a future in which criminals are captured before they commit their crimes. Here are 15 things you might not have known about the first Hollywood movie to feature a completely digital production design .

1. IT WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED AS A SEQUEL TO TOTAL RECALL .

Total Recall was another movie adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story. The Minority Report movie rights were held by cinematographer-turned-director Jan de Bont ( Speed , Twister ) at one point, who ended up getting a producer credit on the film without ever setting foot on set. Eventually Cruise approached Spielberg about an early version of the script, written for de Bont by Jon Cohen, which Spielberg hired Scott Frank to rewrite. When Cruise and Spielberg’s schedules were finally both clear at the same time, they went to work.

2. IT WAS INTENDED AS A FUTURISTIC VERSION OF THE FRENCH CONNECTION .

Spielberg and screenwriter Scott Frank met for months to talk about the story for Minority Report before the outlining stage even began. The general idea the two came up with was doing The French Connection , but set in the year 2050 .

3. MERYL STREEP SIGNED UP TO PLAY DR. IRIS HINEMAN.

Streep's casting was reported in March of 2001, but she didn’t end up in the film at all (Lois Smith played the part). Matt Damon was offered the role of Danny Witwer, but couldn’t do it because of Ocean’s Eleven . Cate Blanchett was offered the part of the precog Agatha, Jenna Elfman was offered Lara Clarke, and Sir Ian McKellen could have been Lamar Burgess.

4. STEVEN SPIELBERG TOLD TOM CRUISE NOT TO TAKE A SALARY.

At the time, Spielberg claimed that he had not taken a salary on a movie in 18 years. And he wanted Cruise to do the same. Instead, the two reportedly agreed to receiving no upfront money in exchange for approximately 15 percent of the box office apiece. (The film made more than $358 million worldwide.)

5. SPIELBERG WANTED TO GET DIRTY.

Spielberg told his longtime cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, that he wanted Minority Report to be the “ ugliest, dirtiest movie ” he had ever made. This was partially achieved by Kaminski’s “bleach bypass” approach to post-production, which pulled “about 40 percent” of the color out of the final images, but more color was added to the lights. The bleached-out feature gave the film deep shadows and bright highlights.

6. A THINK TANK WAS ORGANIZED TO HELP IMAGINE THE FUTURE.

To determine what the world might be like in the year 2054, Spielberg brought together 23 futurists for a brainstorming session. He wanted a reality-based future instead of a science fiction-informed one. All 23 of the participants believed that privacy was going to be a thing of the past. An 80-page “ 2054 bible ” was on hand to keep the movie’s universe consistent.

7. TIM BLAKE NELSON WAS TOLD TO USE A BOSTON ACCENT.

The Oklahoma-born Nelson (Gideon) was thrown a little bit when Spielberg and Cruise went through his rehearsed lines and made some last-minute changes, including the addition of a Boston accent. "It seemed so arbitrary," Nelson told The A.V. Club , "but it was really a brilliant piece of direction because everything suddenly started to click. Not only did it click in terms of pushing me to an extreme that he would appreciate and would work for his movie but every single change they made suddenly made sense rhythmically."

8. THE PRECOGS WERE NAMED AFTER FAMOUS AUTHORS.

Arthur, Agatha, and Dashiell were named for the mystery writers Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and Dashiell Hammett.

9. THE CAR FACTORY SCENE WAS BASED ON AN UNFILMED SCENE IN A HITCHCOCK MOVIE.

Hitchcock wanted to put something similar in North by Northwest .

10. CRUISE DID HIS OWN BATHTUB STUNTS.

Cruise's John Anderton managed to make an air bubble in the tub because of the actor playing him, not from CGI, which Spielberg was prepared to use. Cruise wanted to do it naturally .

11. COLIN FARRELL NEEDED 36 TAKES TO NAIL ONE LINE.

“I’m sure you all understand the fundamental paradox of Precrime methodology” was the one Witwer line that gave Farrell trouble. The actor’s defense was that it was the morning after his birthday. "And I got worse as we went along," Farrell told IGN .

12. A FOURTH OF THE BUDGET WAS FINANCED BY PRODUCT PLACEMENT.

Toyota paid $5 million to get a futuristic Lexus called the Mag-Lev in Minority Report . Nokia shelled out $2 million for the characters to wear Nokia headsets. The Gap, Pepsi, American Express, and Reebok got in on the sci-fi action, too.

13. CAMERON DIAZ AND CAMERON CROWE MADE CAMEOS ON THE TRAIN.

After Spielberg made a cameo in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (which starred Cruise and Cameron Diaz), Crowe returned the favor. Originally Crowe was going to be a futuristic bum, but his role was changed to a businessman reading the newspaper. Diaz played a businesswoman talking on her cell phone right behind Crowe.

14. PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON WAS ALSO ON THAT TRAIN.

But even Anderson couldn’t find himself in the movie.

15. JOHN WILLIAMS SCORED THE FILM, BUT CAME TO THE PROJECT RATHER LATE.

Typically, longtime collaborators John Williams and Steven Spielberg begin discussing and working on the score for a project in the very early stages of production. In the case of Minority Report , Williams didn't come aboard until the film was mostly shot. Which ended up working out well for Williams, as he was able to experience the many twists and turns of the film before creating its music, and create an emotional arc to complement that. His noir-style composition for Minority Report was meant to end on a hopeful note for the future. "That surprises a lot of people," Williams said . "We've been in a dark, futuristic mode and then, unexpectedly, there's this lyricism reflecting a sense of innocence and hope."

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Grin and bear it

I n Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky, Tom Cruise keeps going to bed with the sparrow-like Penelope Cruz and waking up with the foxy Cameron Diaz, or going to bed with the foxy Cameron Diaz and waking up with the sparrow-like Penelope Cruz. This eventually drives him around the bend, to the point that he is willing to contemplate murder, suicide or both. Since going to bed with Penelope Cruz and waking up with Cameron Diaz - or vice versa - is a problem most men could handle with no problem at all, it is fair to say that Crowe has not built enormous sympathy for his protagonist.

Vanilla Sky is a pretentious, interminable remake of Alejandro Amenabar's pretentious, interminable 1997 film Open Your Eyes, which also starred the sparrow-like but then unknown Cruz. Why Crowe agreed to pilot this handpicked Cruise project is a mystery; apparently he really wanted to work with the star. A talented, respected screenwriter and a competent director best known for the charming, if schmaltzy Jerry Maguire, and the charming, if schmaltzy Almost Famous, Crowe does not seem like the sort of person who would deliberately become ensnared in a non-commercial, self-consciously arty mess like Vanilla Sky. This is clearly a desperate attempt to be taken more seriously, for the film is nothing if not an earnest attempt to deal with the big questions. It is nothing if not a big bomb.

Vanilla Sky concerns a man who has trouble sleeping, and even when he is not sleeping he cannot be sure he is awake. But whether sleeping or not, he certainly has amazing teeth. Whether flashing his headlight smile at Cruz, Diaz or both of them simultaneously, Cruise spends so much time smiling in the early part of the film that you can't wait for something really bad to happen to him so that he'll just shut his damned mouth. It's as if he were engaged in an all-out war with Julia Roberts to see who lands that coveted job as official spokesperson for the American Dental Association.

As the film begins, Cruise has inherited a huge publishing empire from his father, a ruthless billionaire who died when Tom was quite young. Scorned as a shallow playboy by his board of directors, Cruise is convinced that these "Seven Dwarves" are plotting a coup. This does not prevent him from bedding Diaz every chance he gets, or from filching the sparrow-like Cruz from his best friend, a fledgling novelist played by Jason Lee. Crowe would have us believe that Cruz is the only genuine person Cruise has ever met, the only one that is not after his money, and, apparently, the only woman he has never slept with. But remember: this could all be a dream.

Diaz, who seems to be some sort of artiste or model, does not take kindly to Cruise's dalliance with the sparrow-like Cruz. She entices him into her car, then takes him on a wild ride, seeking to read him the riot act. But disaster ensues. Now she is probably dead. And Cruise's face is horribly disfigured. And the sparrow-like Cruz no longer wants to date him.

But remember: this could all be a dream.

The movie does not become any more lucid as it trudges towards its enigmatic conclusion. Cruise is accused of murdering either Diaz or Cruz, but we do not know which, because the police refuse to divulge whether the victim was sparrow-like. A compassionate psychiatrist played by Kurt Russell tries to unlock the secret to Cruise's delusions, but he is of little help because he himself may be an illusion. The car crash and subsequent murder may stem from the machinations of the Seven Dwarves but then again it may all be a dream. For all I know, this review of Vanilla Sky may all be a dream. If it is, I sure hope it's a dream where I get paid 70,000 quid for writing it.

The film is not without its merits, most notably Crowe's clever dialogue. When Cruise first dons a "facial prosthetic" - also known as an "aesthetic regenerative shield" - to conceal his disgured face, he hollers out, "That's great. This completely takes care of Halloween." Later someone says: "You do not invite happiness in without a full body search." I am not sure what this means, but it sounds like good advice, especially if you live in Greenwich Village. Equally entertaining is the scene where Diaz snaps, "When you sleep with someone, your body makes a promise, even if you don't." I, for one, hope that this does not apply to blow jobs. Diaz addresses this very issue when she adds, "I swallowed your cum. That means something." Actually, it doesn't. Ask Bill Clinton.

People who don't care for Tom Cruise claim that he never takes risks, that he always plays the same part. This is not true. From Born On The Fourth Of July to Interview With The Vampire to Eyes Wide Shut to Magnolia, Cruise has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to roll the dice and "stretch". Here, as in Far And Away and Cocktail, he comes up short. But the fault lies less in his acting - it is a bit over-the-top in places as Cruise mounts his Oscar campaign - than in the film's very conception. At no point does Crowe explain to us why we should care about this self-involved plutocrat or his hideous entourage. The only people in the film who are vaguely likable are the stolid Kurt Rusell and the sparrow-like Penelope Cruz. Uh-oh.

With Vanilla Sky, Cruz adds to her impressive list of duds. Adorable in Woman On Top, Cruz has continued to be adorable, but has gone down with the ship in such high-profile disasters as All The Pretty Horses and Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Despite Hollywood's best efforts to turn the sultry gamine into the next Jennifer Lopez, she is starting to look more like the next Salma Hayek, the next Maria Conchita Alonzo or the next-to-last Antonio Banderas. Proving that one sparrow does not make a spring.

· Vanilla Sky is out on Friday

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2002 rewatch: The infinite influence and disappointment of Minority Report

Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg's futuristic freakout remains eye-popping in every sense. Too bad it never ends.

Every week, Entertainment Weekly is looking back at the biggest movies of the summer of 2002. As audiences struggled to understand the new post-9/11 world order, Hollywood found itself in a moment of transition, with upcoming stars and soon-to-be-forever franchises playing alongside startling new visions and fading remnants of the old normal. Join us for a rewatch of the first true summer of Hollywood's strange new millennium. This week: Leah Greenblatt and Darren Franich feast their transplanted eyes on Minority Report , while Patrick Gomez and Christian Holub rediscover one of Disney's least expected sensations, Lilo & Stitch . Next week: Mr. Deeds goes to Sandlertown .

LEAH: Did Samantha Morton have a premonition we were going to write this, Darren? That's Morton in Minority Report 's opening scene murmuring " Murrrr-durrr " in a primordial pool, her wired-up brain pumping out little Lotto balls of destiny so that Tom Cruise 's stern time-cop John Anderton can make sure a cuckolded man (Arye Gross) never kills again.

Of course Gross's character hasn't actually killed anyone yet; Morton's Agatha is a precog, which means she sees crimes before they happen (though not, apparently, the thief who stole her eyebrows ). And John carries out his job with full conviction, because the precogs are never wrong. Or are they ? But let's back up a second for some context: Minority Report spent nearly two decades in development before Cruise and Steven Spielberg finally got it made, somewhere between Vanilla Sky and The Last Samurai (two more high-concept Cruises) and A.I. and Catch Me If You Can (the latter two which Spielberg helmed in 2001 and 2002, respectively).

It turns out they did a lot to Philip K. Dick's original 1956 short story, including giving John an entirely different motivation to care: a dead son, who we see in shimmery holograms of old home movies. If the precog system had existed just a few years earlier, we're told more than once, John would still have his little boy. So he's a true believer, though a visit from DOJ agent Danny Witwer ( Colin Farrell , so young! And so much snappy gum) sows indignation at first, then doubt: What if everything is not actually kosher in the house of Pre-Crime?

I had forgotten how outrageously visual this movie is, Darren, and what a future-styled smorgasbord Spielberg makes of it. There's some Jetsons kitsch in there, a heavy dose of Blade Runner , a little Fritz Lang. And several bits, alas, that now just make me think of CBS procedurals (the oversaturated flashbacks; the quirky-officemate banter over crime scenes and blood spatter), though that's probably just what trickled down, inevitably. But how does it all hold up for you?

DARREN: We talked a lot last week about influence, Leah, and how The Bourne Identity sent a whole generation of action movies into on-the-ground-running grit. It's funny how Minority Report immediately doubled down on a lot of those grime-glam instincts. Here's a big-budget science-fiction adventure that purposefully washes every visual into ghoulish gray. The camera gets right up close to Tom Cruise, whose never-more-perfect skin looks pallid. I go back and forth between thinking the tone of the movie is "metallic" and "corpse-like," and you're right to trace this visual palette into two terrible decades of purposefully flavorless cop grunge. It also kind of became the de-facto science fiction look. J.J. Abrams saw the lens flares and wanted more, and you can trace this high-fantasy brutalism through at least a couple of Batman reboots.

But Minority Report is also glorious . Janusz Kaminski's 30-year collaboration with Spielberg is one of film history's great cinematographer-director relationships, and this film's first hour feels like their apex as kinetic storytellers. There's a fluidity in the photography, with a restless camera that nevertheless always seems to find perfectly framed illustrations of future-world paranoia. The opening pre-crime sequence is a perfect ticking-clock thrill ride, introducing so many far-out concepts (murder prophecy, motion-activated viewscreens, dangling airship super cops) with a brisk flair. The real fun starts when John has to go on the run, framed (maybe?) for a murder he has no plans to commit. Camerawork fetishists love the robo-spider invasion, with its god's-eye view of a whole apartment building. Personally, I love the precog heist, when John kidnaps (frees?) Agatha and she uses her prophecy powers to hide in plain sight.

You've got Farrell as a marvelous sleaze with a surprising moral code, Max von Sydow as a lovable mentor with a secret, and Neil McDonough as the man with cinema's bluest eyes. And I think the most noir thing about Minority Report is how willfully some actors dominate their single scenes, like Lois Smith as a witty-freaky scientist or Peter Stormare as an oddly sensual underworld sawbones.

Of course, the movie always had a problem: It's too damn long. I know we were mid- Lord of the Rings in the summer of 2002, and three-hour runtimes were about to become the new normal for Pirates of the Caribbean movies. But a lot of Minority Report 's appeal is its sheer velocity, and inertia hits in the last half hour. This was the moment I remember savvy film fans complaining about the Spielberg Ending — his gut instinct for mass appeal that encouraged the director toward talky-sappy final acts. Do you think the film's second half suffers a bit in comparison to the first? And I'm curious: Do you think we've moved past its visual influence for onscreen science fiction? Directors do seem to have rediscovered colors.

LEAH: A little trivia for you, apparently Meryl Streep was originally slated to play Lois's mad-scientist role, which is a take I feel like we both would have enjoyed: Meryl whispering sweet nothings to her Little Shop of Horrors house plants and delivering the movie's most important exposition — what is a minority report? — in a greenhouse caftan while poor, poisoned Tom quivers into his tea.

Anyway, I love the word "metallic" as the mood board for the color palette here, though it doesn't feel distinctly Spielberg-y to me. It's almost as if he borrowed it from 1995's Seven — that sense of saturation and light, all the tone-on-tone coolness. (Speaking of Kevin Spacey-adjacent things, the twist of a main-character murder in Minority 's third act also reminded me a little too much of another iconic death scene , in L.A. Confidential ). Stormare, at least, certainly seems to come from that grimier David Fincher world, while John's ex-wife ( Kathryn Morris , who would soon be the star of… a CBS procedural ) lives in another place entirely, the land of soft-focus lake houses and linen-shirt sadness.

Newer films like Arrival and Ex Machina are certainly echoes or extensions of that glossy quiet-menace aesthetic, though they also created such a distinct visual language of their own. And I love the warmer, more — can I use the word artisanal ? — visions of late 21st-century living that Her and After Yang gave us, too. But whenever someone is trying to explain something logistically complicated to me, I still find myself reverting to Minority 's urgent, swooshing AI arm motions , like an upper-body Electric Slide only Tom Cruise can see. Give me a pair of light-up robo-gloves and let me crack the case! So much about this movie really saturated the pop-culture firmament and stayed there, which says a lot about the bygone monoculture of that moment, but it's still pretty amazing.

So I wish I could say I enjoyed the back third of the movie more. But on rewatch, certain gaping plot holes did get to me — as did the dragging of poor Agatha through the actual Gap (I mean yes, she needed pants) and into a precogged scenario she's literally begging to be excluded from. John Anderton, super cop, could not wait ten minutes to negate the prophecy, even when the infallible dream-psychic was screaming at him to leave? And he never suspected that he might have a reason to kill a man he'd never met, when his grief over his son was still a raw, weeping wound? Oh, and the "orgy of evidence," as Farrell's doomed Witwer smartly puts it: Anderton didn't even pause to wonder why a killer would essentially build a "BEHOLD MY CRIMES" diorama in his own hotel suite before he aimed that fateful gun.

What's important, of course, is that he didn't pull the trigger. And that von Sydow's sloppy-villain whoopsie gave the game away ( "But I never said she drowned" ) so that John and his wife could be reunited in a burst of second-chance fertility, and Agatha and the waifish twins could go…read books in a barn, I guess? And wear cozy cable-knit sweaters, which seems nice. It is interesting how much the movie glosses over their dehumanizing — just the bare fact that they were essentially kept drugged and spandexed in a weird viscous pool for six years. They're people! The pre-cogs were made out of people.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the script was blunter and a little sillier than I remembered it (that Cyber Parlor alone); last week's Bourne excursion generally stood up better to my youthful memories, in the end, than this one. Still, there's a disturbing amount that the movie gets right about our future-now, from the individually targeted ads to the Siri-like system that turns John's lights on by verbal command when he comes home. Though in Philip K. Dick's original story, spoiler, John and his wife both end up in a penal space colony, not pregnant with righteous justice. Darren, would you do it any differently?

DARREN: I actually read Dick's story when I was pretentious enough to think Hollywood would never fully capture the author's psycho-prophetic cynicism, no matter how many wannabe Blade Runner s slapped his literary conceits onto an action movie. "The Minority Report" is one of his little tossed-off tales, which means it's full of ideas and thin on character. I actually think credited screenwriters Scott Frank and Jon Cohen do a solid job of importing the talky premise into a massively emotional chase saga. And all praise to Morton for bringing shocking depths of humanity to a role that's half-Vulcan and half-primal. She has to unload computer-sounding exposition and embody a battle-hardened state of constant feeling. Thanks to her, you feel that Agatha feels everything: a whole world of potential violence playing on video-repeat in her brain. My favorite single moment in the movie comes during her run with John, when she grabs a bystander and offers a bleak warning: "He knows. Don't go home."

The actual future turns every sci-fi movie into a checklist: What did it get wrong? I think you're right to note Minority Report 's casual cleverness in guessing toward a more personalized (and more impersonal) future. We're now 32 years away from the film's projected time period of 2054, and despite some heavy federal investment recently in infrastructure, I seriously doubt new stratospheric freeways will be carrying magnet cars by then. (Likewise, the whole awesome-looking concept of suspended-animation mind-terror prisons would require rather more penitentiary funding than our country usually allows.) Also, I can't decide if it's charming or secretly incisive that the whole concept of smartphones seems foreign to this new America. As awesome as the movie still looks, it's recognizably a clash of analog aesthetics with digital possibilities. Like: balls of destiny! A bit silly on reflection, but totally mesmerizing to look at — and a reminder that realism isn't always the best approach.

Like Bourne Identity , the movie evokes an emerging era of paranoia, despite being filmed in pre-9/11 D.C. (among other areas). The whole idea of pre-crime moved unsteadily through the next period of real history, as the U.S. armed up for a preemptive war to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction. (Could've used Agatha on that one, eh?) That's just Spielberg being a vital storyteller who really had his finger on the pulse. What a turn he took after Saving Private Ryan . Despite its overwhelming (and tantalizing) brutality, that film exemplified the 1990s' fervent Greatest Generation nostalgia, and a new national myth of indisputable finest-hour nobility. Then came A.I. and Minority Report , and then Munich and War of the Worlds in the same dang year. That's a lot of untrustworthy authorities, shifting identities, and so many cute actors punished in monochrome. (Even the wonderfully frothy Catch Me If You Can and the painfully frothy The Terminal feel haunted along the margins — not to mention eerily fixated on airplanes.)

Actually, this is my favorite period of Spielberg's and Cruise's careers — the moment when both legends pushed their shared decades of success toward unusual concepts. They were never not making massive big-budget thrill rides, but 2002 was a time when the mainstream seemed to demand unsettled entertainments. That is not a common opinion today. But we should always pay more attention to the minority reports.

Read past 2002 rewatches:

• The Bourne Identity reinvented action for the new millennium
• The Sum of All Fears was somehow too late and too early
• Insomnia was a flawed but promising daylight noir from pre-Batman Christopher Nolan
• Star Wars: Episode 2—Attack of the Clones is still fascinating and confusing
• Unfaithful brought sex to the summer
• Spider-Man still swings high one multiverse later

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Personal Info

Known For Acting

Known Credits 106

Gender Male

Birthday July 3, 1962 (61 years old)

Place of Birth Syracuse, New York, USA

Also Known As

• Thomas Cruise Mapother IV
• Thomas 'Tom' Cruise
• Thomas Cruise
• Thomas Mapother
• Thomas C. Mapother IV

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Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV; July 3, 1962) is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards. His films have grossed over $4 billion in North America and over $11.1 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing box office stars of all time.

He began acting in the early 1980s and made his breakthrough with leading roles in the comedy film Risky Business (1983) and action film Top Gun (1986). Critical acclaim came with his roles in the dramas The Color of Money (1986), Rain Man (1988), and Born on the Fourth of July (1989). For his portrayal of Ron Kovic in the latter, he won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

As a leading Hollywood star in the 1990s, he starred in several commercially successful films, including the drama A Few Good Men (1992), the thriller The Firm (1993), the horror film Interview with the Vampire (1994), and the romance Jerry Maguire (1996). For the latter, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and received his second Academy Award nomination. His performance as a motivational speaker in the drama Magnolia (1999) earned him another Golden Globe Award and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Since then, he has largely starred in science fiction and action films, establishing himself as an action star, often performing his own risky stunts. He has played Ethan Hunt in all six of the Mission: Impossible films from 1996 to 2018. His other notable roles in the genre include Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Knight and Day (2010), Jack Reacher (2012), Oblivion (2013), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022), with Maverick being his highest-grossing film to date.

Edge of Tomorrow

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Top Gun: Maverick

Mission: Impossible

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Minority Report

• TV Shows 30
• Production 25
• Directing 1

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All Tom Cruise Movies

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1. The Outsiders (1983)

PG | 91 min | Crime, Drama

In a small Oklahoma town in 1964, the rivalry between two gangs, the poor Greasers and the rich Socs, heats up when one gang member accidentally kills a member of the other.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: C. Thomas Howell , Matt Dillon , Ralph Macchio , Patrick Swayze

Votes: 97,518 | Gross: $25.60M

2. Risky Business (1983)

R | 99 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

A Chicago teenager is looking for fun at home while his parents are away, but the situation quickly gets out of hand.

Director: Paul Brickman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Rebecca De Mornay , Joe Pantoliano , Richard Masur

Votes: 99,825 | Gross: $63.50M

3. All the Right Moves (1983)

R | 91 min | Drama, Romance, Sport

An ambitious young football star is trapped in a dying mill town--unless his gridiron skills can win him a way out.

Director: Michael Chapman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Lea Thompson , Craig T. Nelson , Charles Cioffi

Votes: 20,394 | Gross: $17.23M

4. Legend (1985)

PG | 94 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Romance

A young man must stop the Lord of Darkness from destroying daylight and marrying the woman he loves.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise , Mia Sara , Tim Curry , David Bennent

Votes: 72,469 | Gross: $15.50M

5. Top Gun (1986)

PG | 109 min | Action, Drama

As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.

Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise , Tim Robbins , Kelly McGillis , Val Kilmer

Votes: 502,513 | Gross: $179.80M

6. The Color of Money (1986)

R | 119 min | Drama, Sport

Fast Eddie Felson teaches a cocky but immensely talented protégé the ropes of pool hustling, which in turn inspires him to make an unlikely comeback.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Paul Newman , Tom Cruise , Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio , Helen Shaver

Votes: 93,256 | Gross: $52.29M

7. Rain Man (1988)

R | 133 min | Drama

After a selfish L.A. yuppie learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother in Ohio that he didn't know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.

Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Tom Cruise , Valeria Golino , Gerald R. Molen

Votes: 546,531 | Gross: $178.80M

8. Cocktail (1988)

R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A talented New York City bartender takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love.

Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Tom Cruise , Bryan Brown , Elisabeth Shue , Lisa Banes

Votes: 91,851 | Gross: $78.22M

9. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

R | 145 min | Biography, Drama, War

The biography of Ron Kovic . Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.

Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Tom Cruise , Bryan Larkin , Raymond J. Barry , Caroline Kava

Votes: 115,926 | Gross: $70.00M

10. Days of Thunder (1990)

PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Drama, Sport

A young hot-shot stock car driver gets his chance to compete at the top level.

Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise , Nicole Kidman , Robert Duvall , Randy Quaid

Votes: 96,397 | Gross: $82.67M

11. Far and Away (1992)

PG-13 | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance

A young Irish couple flee to the States, but subsequently struggle to obtain land and prosper freely.

Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Tom Cruise , Nicole Kidman , Thomas Gibson , Robert Prosky

Votes: 68,323 | Gross: $58.88M

12. A Few Good Men (1992)

R | 138 min | Drama, Thriller

Military lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder. They contend they were acting under orders.

Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jack Nicholson , Demi Moore , Kevin Bacon

Votes: 287,294 | Gross: $141.34M

13. The Firm (1993)

R | 154 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A young lawyer joins a prestigious law firm only to discover that it has a sinister dark side.

Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jeanne Tripplehorn , Gene Hackman , Hal Holbrook

Votes: 147,676 | Gross: $158.35M

14. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

R | 123 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

A vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger.

Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Brad Pitt , Tom Cruise , Antonio Banderas , Kirsten Dunst

Votes: 347,432 | Gross: $105.26M

15. Jerry Maguire (1996)

R | 139 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete who stays with him and his former colleague.

Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise , Cuba Gooding Jr. , Renée Zellweger , Kelly Preston

Votes: 287,000 | Gross: $153.95M

16. Mission: Impossible (1996)

PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jon Voight , Emmanuelle Béart , Henry Czerny

Votes: 470,244 | Gross: $180.98M

17. Magnolia (1999)

R | 188 min | Drama

An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jason Robards , Julianne Moore , Philip Seymour Hoffman

Votes: 328,442 | Gross: $22.46M

18. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

R | 159 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife's admission of unfulfilled longing.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Tom Cruise , Nicole Kidman , Todd Field , Sydney Pollack

Votes: 375,053 | Gross: $55.69M

19. Mission: Impossible II (2000)

PG-13 | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

IMF agent Ethan Hunt is sent to Sydney to find and destroy a genetically modified disease called "Chimera".

Director: John Woo | Stars: Tom Cruise , Dougray Scott , Thandiwe Newton , Ving Rhames

Votes: 377,643 | Gross: $215.41M

20. Vanilla Sky (2001)

R | 136 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Romance

A self-indulgent and vain publishing magnate finds his privileged life upended after a vehicular accident with a resentful lover.

Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise , Penélope Cruz , Cameron Diaz , Kurt Russell

Votes: 285,666 | Gross: $100.61M

21. Minority Report (2002)

PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Crime, Mystery

John works with the PreCrime police which stop crimes before they take place, with the help of three 'PreCogs' who can foresee crimes. Events ensue when John finds himself framed for a future murder.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Cruise , Colin Farrell , Samantha Morton , Max von Sydow

Votes: 584,278 | Gross: $132.07M

22. The Last Samurai (2003)

R | 154 min | Action, Drama

Nathan Algren, a US army veteran, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train his army in the modern warfare techniques. Nathan finds himself trapped in a struggle between two eras and two worlds.

Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Tom Cruise , Ken Watanabe , Billy Connolly , William Atherton

Votes: 471,012 | Gross: $111.11M

23. War of the Worlds (2005)

PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

An alien invasion threatens the future of humanity. The catastrophic nightmare is depicted through the eyes of one American family fighting for survival.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Cruise , Dakota Fanning , Tim Robbins , Miranda Otto

Votes: 475,165 | Gross: $234.28M

24. Mission: Impossible III (2006)

PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

IMF agent Ethan Hunt comes into conflict with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer who threatens his life and his fiancée in response.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Tom Cruise , Michelle Monaghan , Ving Rhames , Philip Seymour Hoffman

Votes: 390,692 | Gross: $134.03M

25. Lions for Lambs (2007)

R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Injuries sustained by two Army rangers behind enemy lines in Afghanistan set off a sequence of events involving a congressman, a journalist and a professor.

Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Tom Cruise , Meryl Streep , Robert Redford , Michael Peña

Votes: 52,701 | Gross: $15.00M

26. Tropic Thunder (2008)

R | 107 min | Action, Comedy, War

Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.

Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Ben Stiller , Jack Black , Robert Downey Jr. , Jeff Kahn

Votes: 447,991 | Gross: $110.52M

27. Valkyrie (2008)

PG-13 | 121 min | Drama, History, Thriller

A dramatization of the July 20, 1944 assassination and political coup plot by desperate renegade German Army officers against Adolf Hitler during World War II.

Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Tom Cruise , Bill Nighy , Carice van Houten , Kenneth Branagh

Votes: 259,222 | Gross: $83.08M

28. Knight and Day (2010)

PG-13 | 109 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

A young woman gets mixed up with a disgraced spy who is trying to clear his name.

Director: James Mangold | Stars: Tom Cruise , Cameron Diaz , Peter Sarsgaard , Jordi Mollà

Votes: 210,307 | Gross: $76.42M

29. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.

Director: Brad Bird | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jeremy Renner , Simon Pegg , Paula Patton

Votes: 528,381 | Gross: $209.40M

30. Rock of Ages (2012)

PG-13 | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical

A small-town girl and a city boy meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams.

Director: Adam Shankman | Stars: Julianne Hough , Diego Boneta , Tom Cruise , Alec Baldwin

Votes: 81,661 | Gross: $38.52M

31. Jack Reacher (2012)

PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller

A homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper responsible for a mass shooting.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Rosamund Pike , Richard Jenkins , Werner Herzog

Votes: 365,003 | Gross: $80.07M

32. Collateral (2004)

R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama

A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.

Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jamie Foxx , Jada Pinkett Smith , Mark Ruffalo

Votes: 433,066 | Gross: $101.01M

33. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

A soldier fighting aliens gets to relive the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies.

Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Emily Blunt , Bill Paxton , Brendan Gleeson

Votes: 736,744 | Gross: $100.21M

34. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

Ethan and his team take on their most impossible mission yet when they have to eradicate an international rogue organization as highly skilled as they are and committed to destroying the IMF.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Rebecca Ferguson , Jeremy Renner , Simon Pegg

Votes: 410,893 | Gross: $195.04M

35. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

PG-13 | 118 min | Action, Crime, Drama

Jack Reacher must uncover the truth behind a major government conspiracy in order to clear his name while on the run as a fugitive from the law.

Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Tom Cruise , Cobie Smulders , Aldis Hodge , Robert Knepper

Votes: 175,276 | Gross: $58.70M

36. American Made (2017)

R | 115 min | Action, Comedy, Crime

The story of Barry Seal, an American pilot who became a drug-runner for the CIA in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the Iran-Contra Affair.

Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Domhnall Gleeson , Sarah Wright , Jesse Plemons

Votes: 208,141 | Gross: $51.34M

37. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

PG-13 | 147 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Henry Cavill , Ving Rhames , Simon Pegg

Votes: 378,093 | Gross: $220.16M

38. The Mummy (2017)

PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

An ancient Egyptian princess is awakened from her crypt beneath the desert, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.

Director: Alex Kurtzman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Sofia Boutella , Annabelle Wallis , Russell Crowe

Votes: 206,192 | Gross: $80.10M

39. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

PG-13 | 163 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Hayley Atwell , Ving Rhames , Simon Pegg

Votes: 246,739 | Gross: $172.14M

40. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Drama

After thirty years, Maverick is still pushing the envelope as a top naval aviator, but must confront ghosts of his past when he leads TOP GUN's elite graduates on a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it.

Director: Joseph Kosinski | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jennifer Connelly , Miles Teller , Val Kilmer

Votes: 696,466 | Gross: $718.73M

41. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two (2025)

Action, Adventure, Thriller | Post-production

The 8th entry in the long running Mission Impossible franchise.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Hannah Waddingham , Vanessa Kirby , Tom Cruise , Nick Offerman

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Filmography

Henry Cavill's Highest-Grossing Movies, Ranked

Quick links, the count of monte cristo (2002), the man from u.n.c.l.e. (2015), stardust (2007), immortals (2011), black adam (2022), justice league (2017), man of steel (2013), mission: impossible - fallout (2018), batman v superman: dawn of justice (2016).

• Henry Cavill's movies have collectively grossed $4.1 billion globally, and his net worth is estimated to stand at $50 million.
• Cavill starred in blockbusters like Justice League and Man Of Steel, the latter of which is the highest-grossing solo Superman movie.
• His diverse roles span historical dramas, fantasy epics, and action comedies like Mission: Impossible - Fallout.

As one of Hollywood's most in-demand leading men, Henry Cavill has built a stellar career defined by both critical acclaim and blockbuster success.

The British actor made his film debut in the film adaptation of The Count Of Monte Cristo in 2002. Since then, Cavill has starred in over twenty films, collectively grossing an astonishing $4.1 billion at the global box office.

Thanks to a string of box office hits, Henry Cavill has an estimated net worth of $50 million. Among his vast repertoire lie critically acclaimed turns in historical dramas, fantasy epics, and spy thrillers.

Cavill's breakout role came as Charles Brandon in Showtime's historical drama The Tudors . He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Superman in the DC Extended Universe.

In 2024, Cavill starred in Matthew Vaughn's stylish spy thriller Argylle, and Guy Ritchie's action-packed comedy The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare , both box office successes.

Let's look at the highest-grossing Henry Cavill movies to date.

The Star-Studded Cast Of Argylle, Ranked By Net Worth

Global box office, the count of monte cristo - $75,395,048.

Henry Cavill kicked off his film career with this swashbuckling tale of betrayal and vengeance.

Based on Alexandre Dumas's timeless novel, The Count Of Monte Cristo found Cavill portraying Albert Mondego, the son of his character's greatest enemy.

This lavish period drama offered audiences thrilling sword fights, intricate plots, and a taste of Cavill's on-screen allure. The Count of Monte Cristo ignited imaginations and the box office.

In North America alone, the film earned over $54 million, with international audiences adding another $21 million to its gross, bringing its global total to $75 million .

Global Box Office, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - $110,045,109

In a delightful twist of espionage, Henry Cavill donned the mantle of Napoleon Solo, a debonair C.I.A. operative, in the stylized 2015 spy flick The Man From U.N.C.L.E .

This Guy Ritchie -directed action-comedy saw Cavill's Solo reluctantly partner with a steely K.G.B. agent ( Armie Hammer ) against a backdrop of Cold War intrigue.

Critics delivered a mixed verdict, and despite high hopes, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. struggled at the box office.

Its opening weekend saw a modest gross of $13.4 million, falling short of expectations by approximately $5 million and landing it in third place.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E . managed to accumulate $45.4 million in North America and $64.4 million in other territories, resulting in a global total of $109.8 million .

Despite surpassing its production budget of $75 million, The Hollywood Reporter estimated that the studio incurred losses of at least $80 million when considering all expenses and revenues.

The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare's Cast, Ranked By Net Worth

Global box office, stardust - $137,515,140.

Henry Cavill's foray into the romantic fantasy adventure film Stardust saw him play Humphrey, a preening rival for the affections of the village beauty.

As the pompous rival Humphrey, Cavill embraces a farcical side, vying for the affections of a fallen star ( Claire Danes ).

Stardust weaves magic, romance, and the supernatural, highlighting Cavill's willingness to experiment early in his career. Sporting a surprisingly blond hairdo, Henry Cavill was nearly unrecognizable in the film.

Stardust grossed $38 million in North America and $99.5 million overseas, totaling $137 million worldwide against its $70 million budget.

Global Box Office, Immortals - $226,904,017

Henry Cavill unleashed his heroic potential in this fantasy action thriller inspired by Greek myth.

As Theseus, a brave mortal chosen by the gods, Cavill battled mythical beasts and power-hungry tyrants amid breathtaking landscapes.

Director Tarsem Singh's signature visual flair brought the ancient world to life with striking imagery and visceral action sequences.

The film received mixed reviews, with critics praising Tarsem's direction, costume design, and music score, but criticized the film's storytelling and the lack of character development.

Immortals grossed $83.5 million in the United States and Canada and $143 million in other countries, for a total of $227 million worldwide .

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Global box office, black adam - $393,452,111.

The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe shifted in 2022 with the arrival of Dwayne Johnson 's Black Adam.

Fans got a jolt of electricity in a post-credits scene that sent shockwaves through the superhero fandom. Henry Cavill, in his return, donned the iconic red and blue suit once again as Superman.

This electrifying cameo teased a clash of titans for the ages – the unstoppable force of Black Adam meeting the immovable object of Superman.

The film received poor critical reception and was classified as a box-office bomb, as it failed to break even from its $67 million production budget.

Black Adam grossed $168.2 million in the United States and Canada and $225.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $393.3 million .

Global Box Office, Justice League - $661,326,987

Assembling Earth's mightiest heroes for the first time on the big screen, Justice League was an epic superhero team-up that promised to be a cinematic spectacle.

Henry Cavill donned the red cape once again as Superman, joining forces with Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and the Flash to face a world-ending threat.

Although the action sequences and performances were praised, Justice League received mixed reviews overall, with some criticizing the plot, pacing, and visual effects.

At the box office, Justice League grossed $229 million in the United States and Canada and $432.3 million in other territories, for a total of $661.3 million worldwide .

Up against an estimated break-even point of as much as $750 million, Deadline Hollywood reported that Justice League lost the studio around $60 million .

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Global box office, man of steel - $670,145,518.

Henry Cavill's debut as Superman was an explosive one. Man Of Steel offered a bold re-imagining of the Kryptonian hero's origin story.

Director Zack Snyder infused the film with his trademark grit and stylized visuals, delivering earth-shattering action sequences that pushed the boundaries of superhero cinema.

Cavill brought both power and vulnerability to his portrayal of Clark Kent/Kal-El, a man grappling with his extraordinary powers and place in the world.

Critics were divided in their opinions regarding the film's action sequences, with some feeling that they were insufficient to offset the movie's slide into mainstream blockbuster territory.

Additionally, there was disagreement among critics regarding Henry Cavill's portrayal of Superman.

Man Of Steel grossed $291 million in the United States and Canada and $377 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $668 million , making it the highest-grossing solo Superman film of all time.

Deadline Hollywood's analysis revealed that Man Of Steel made a net profit of $42.7 million , considering all expenses and revenues.

Global Box Office, Mission: Impossible - Fallout - $791,658,205

The Mission: Impossible saga continues to defy expectations, with its sixth chapter, Fallout, setting the bar even higher.

Henry Cavill made a splash as the villainous August Walker, a charismatic yet chilling counterpoint to Tom Cruise 's Ethan Hunt.

His memorable bicep reload in a bathroom fight scene has gone down as one of the most iconic moments in action movie history.

Walker's cunning plots proved the ultimate challenge for Ethan Hunt, resulting in heart-pounding stunts and mind-bending twists.

Critics raved about Fallout's death-defying stunts and jaw-dropping action sequences, pushing the boundaries of the action genre.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout grossed $220.1 million in North America and $571 million in other territories, for a total global haul of $791.6 million against a $178 million production budget.

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Global box office, batman v superman: dawn of justice - $874,362,803.

Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice was a monumental superhero face-off that marked the first live-action film to feature Batman and Superman together on the big screen.

Henry Cavill reprises his role as Superman, while Ben Affleck steps into Batman's iconic cape and cowl, creating a dynamic and electrifying on-screen rivalry.

Batman v Superman promised a clash of ideologies and super-powered might the likes of which the world had never seen.

In the film, criminal mastermind Lex Luthor manipulates Batman into a confrontation with Superman, leading to a grand showdown.

After a strong opening weekend that shattered box office records, the film suffered a significant decline in its second weekend, from which it never fully recovered.

The film grossed $166 million in the United States and Canada in its opening weekend.

Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice grossed $330.4 million in North America and $543.3 million in other territories, for a total of $873.6 million worldwide.

According to Deadline Hollywood, Dawn Of Justice turned in a net profit of $105.7 million , when all expenses and revenues for the film were considered.

The Tom Cruise Role That Was Written With Tom Hanks in Mind

A tale of two Toms.

The Big Picture

• Tom Cruise showed a surprisingly seasoned and thoughtful approach to his film choices in the 1990s, working with prestigious directors on risky projects.
• Cameron Crowe originally wrote the role of Jerry Maguire with Tom Hanks in mind, but Hanks declined, giving Cruise the opportunity to showcase vulnerability in his performance.
• Cruise's comedic vulnerability in films like Risky Business and All the Right Moves proved that he could handle romantic roles, and Jerry Maguire showcased his ability to deliver surprising and powerful moments in a rom-com setting.

Tom Cruise is most closely associated with the action genre these days due to the success of Top Gun and Mission: Impossible , but in the 1990s, it seemed like he made it a goal to work with nearly every great filmmaker on a prestige project. Between Sydney Pollack ’s The Firm , Rob Reiner ’s A Few Good Men , Neil Jordan ’s Interview with the Vampire , and Stanley Kubrick ’s Eyes Wide Shut , Cruise showed a surprising amount of discretion in the risky projects that he joined. Ironically, the role that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor was Cameron Crowe ’s Jerry Maguire , which was a mainstream success and audience favorite. The film gave Cruise some of the most endearing, iconic, and hilarious moments of his entire filmography, but it wasn’t a role that was originally written with him in mind.

Jerry Maguire

Cameron crowe wrote ‘jerry maguire’ for tom hanks.

Crowe is among the foremost directors of romantic comedies, as his films tend to go beyond simply being crowd-pleasers to say something powerful about the nature of love, and what it means to be in a relationship. While he had proven his competence within the genre with the 1989 coming-of-age dramedy Say Anything and the ensemble project Singles , Jerry Maguire was arguably his most ambitious project to date. It was the type of film that relied upon an established movie star to show vulnerability, and Crowe had his sights set on which A-Lister he wanted in the role of the titular sports agent.

In 2017, Crowe told NBC Sports that the role “was originally written with Tom Hanks in mind,” and that he “had this wonderful conversation with Tom Hanks, and people were waiting in the next room for the answer.” Crowe found that he was “high on the Tom Hanks personality charisma.” However, Hanks was busy working on his directorial effort That Thing You Do! , and could not commit to Crowe’s project. Hanks would later joke that he “would like to think, however, that Tom Cruise owes me one dollar, and I’m still waiting for the check.”

Cruise was very complimentary of Hanks , stating that “as a fan of his, I would have been very interested to see what he would have done with that character.” However, Cruise was keen to note that he put significant effort into ensuring that the role could become his own. Cruise said that he “spent nine months with Cameron going back and forth developing” the characterization of Jerry. While the work that Cruise puts into the physical stunts within his action films is evident to anyone that watches them, the efforts he took to develop such a complex character were more subtle.

'Jerry Maguire' Lets Tom Cruise Get Vulnerable

On paper, Hanks seemed like a more obvious choice for the role. While he had a newfound prestige thanks to his back-to-back Academy Award wins for Best Actor in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump , he was still at his core a comedic actor that had shown his aptitude within the rom-com genre. Romantic comedies were huge in the ‘90s, but his collaborations with Meg Ryan in the films Joe Versus the Volcano , You’ve Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seattle were among the best. However, Hanks’ refusal gave Cruise the chance to give an uncharacteristically vulnerable performance that pushed him as an actor.

Tom Cruise Inspired Christian Bale's Performance in 'American Psycho'

Tom Cruise tends to take on drama roles and isn't generally associated with comedy, but he’s proven on more than one occasion that he’s much funnier than some of his fans might expect. Outside his iconic cameos in Tropic Thunder and Austin Powers in Goldmember , Cruise showed a comedic vulnerability in his early films Risky Business and All the Right Moves . In both films, he plays a teenager who bites off more than they can chew, and they end up making a lot of ill-advised decisions for the sake of what they perceive to be true love. These films showed that Cruise was willing to make himself the butt of a joke, and didn’t have the ego that he’s sometimes associated with. However, these skills were set aside in the immediate aftermath as Cruise focused on films with a more serious edge to them .

'Jerry Maguire' Is Proof That Tom Cruise Should Do More Romantic Movies

That level of vulnerability is something Hanks has utilized throughout his career, and a reason why his romantic comedies with Ryan are so endearing to this day. It makes perfect sense why he would have been someone that Crowe had in mind, but casting Cruise forced the Mission: Impossible star to show that same romantic vulnerability that had been absent in his filmography since the late 1980s. It was a choice that ended up making Jerry Maguire more surprising. Audiences would expect to see Hanks pouring out his heart to Renée Zellweger about how he feels, but seeing Cruise do it came as a shock, making the “you complete me” moment even more powerful.

When Jerry sets forth with his ambitious mission statement regarding his intentions for his company, it feels like his breakthrough will be accepted automatically, so it’s hilarious when his speech is met with a collective shrug from his co-workers. However, seeing Cruise descend into madness as Jerry digs himself deeper by ranting (and even stealing a fish) results in one of the funniest moments in the entire film. These sorts of physical gags are something that Hanks has done all the time, but Cruise had to show a wacky side of his personality that he hadn’t accessed since his adolescent roles.

Cruise continues to push the boundaries of his physicality as recently as 2023's Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One , and he’ll be doing the same thing for the next installment. However, Cruise is also 61 years old, and can’t be doing action films forever. Perhaps choosing to go back to the romantic comedy genre for the first time since Jerry Maguire would be the best choice for Cruise to prove that, even after all these years, he’s still one of the greatest movie stars in the world.

Jerry Maguire is available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.

Rent on Prime Video

Tom Cruise produced a movie in Eugene during the summer of 1996 about Steve Prefontaine

In 1996 a film crew descended on Eugene to make a movie about Steve Prefontaine.

The film followed the relationship between record-breaking distance runner Steve Prefontaine and his coach Bill Bowerman.

Prefontaine was a star athlete from Coos Bay who ran for the University of Oregon and later competed in the Olympics in the 1970s.

He died in an automobile accident in Eugene on May 30, 1975, at the age of 24.

The film was written and directed by Robert Towne and produced by Tom Cruise.

Hundreds of locals appear as extras in the film at locations around Oregon, Lane Community College and Hayward Field.

The $25 million movie was released and distributed by Warner Bros. in 1998.

Cruise himself visited Eugene in 1998 for a screening of the film at the McDonald Theater.

The movie was well-received by critics but ended up grossing only $777,000 at the box office.

Contact photographer Chris Pietsch at [email protected] , or follow him on Twitter @ChrisPietsch and Instagram @chrispietsch