cocktail 2 tom cruise

Cocktail Is Tom Cruise's Poorest-Reviewed Movie. The Guy Who Wrote It Might Get Redemption.

He's writing a sequel that takes place 20 years after the events of the original.

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Tom Cruise’s first and greatest hot streak as an actor lasted from 1986 to 1990, starting with Top Gun , followed by The Color of Money , Rain Man , Born on the Fourth of July, which got him his first Best Actor nomination, and Days of Thunder . But smack in the middle of that run was one major stinker: Cocktail .

In the 30 years since its theatrical release, Cocktail has not earned a reappraisal from critics. No one is saying: Actually, it was ahead of it's time . But it also hasn't faded away. Over the years, the movie has maintained a loyal audience, including in Hollywood. Some of which you might even call admirers of the film. The producer of one of this year’s buzzy award-nominated films told me members of his social circle spent the weekend Cocktail hit Netflix last spring watching the movie and exchanging messages about it. Matthew Rhys, the star of The Americans , also told me , possibly half-joking, that Cocktail is an all-time favorite.

In case you haven’t seen Cocktail , or haven’t seen it in a while, you should know it’s kind of insane. It takes place in three acts, across New York and Jamaica. Cruise’s character is a working-class guy from Queens, who’s striving to become an '80s era yuppie, yet he settles for a relatively quiet life owning a small bar and raising a family—an enormous shift his character makes in a few minutes. There’s a suicide. There’s a waterfall sex scene. There’s a very angry father who appears in a third act that wraps up way too quickly.

But I love the movie. Tom Cruise remains the most exuberant actor on the screen, and in Cocktail he’s at his second-most exuberant, behind only Jerry Maguire . (In fact, there’s some Brian Flanagan in Jerry.) Plus, Bryan Brown, who plays Cruise's mentor in the film, is so good they could've just made the movie about him. Elisabeth Shue, no surprise, is an absolute breath of fresh air.

And so last summer, I emailed Heywood Gould, who wrote both the movie and the novel upon which it’s based, asking to chat. He responded promptly, and one afternoon I spent an hour talking to the guy who wrote Cocktail about the movie’s plot, his reaction to its sour reception in 1988, Tom Cruise, and where the characters might be today. During our conversation, Gould dropped a bombshell: The 76-year-old is working on a sequel.

“I have a long treatment,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Here’s the plot of Cocktail : Tom Cruise’s character, Brian Flanagan, returns home to New York from the military in search of an executive-level job. This was a common trope in the ‘80s: If you’re a white guy, you don’t necessarily need a college degree or even experience to land a cushy corporate job. But in Flanagan’s case, no one is biting, so he ends up at a TGI Friday’s, where Doug Coughlin, played by Bryan Brown, gives him a job despite having never tended bar.

Bartending, it turns out, suits Flanagan, and he quickly becomes locally famous for a routine with Coughlin that involves tossing bottles in the air. One thing leads to another and Flanagan lands in Jamaica, where he meets Elisabeth Shue’s Jordan Mooney, and, after breaking her heart, heads back to New York where Coughlin takes his own life. At the same time, Mooney, who’s pregnant with Flanagan’s baby, turns her back on her wealthy father to be with Flanagan. The movie ends with Flanagan opening his own saloon, and Mooney revealing she’s having twins.

Like I said, it’s kind of insane. But what’s most surprising is how shockingly unfocused the movie is for a Tom Cruise project. His movies are usually taut and to the point. This one lists in search of ballast and never decides if it wants to rebuke '80s greed or revel in it.

(One question that’s long dogged me about the plot is the timeline: over how long a period does this movie take place? Gould told me Flanagan spends between four and six months in Jamaica, which would mean the movie itself occurs over the span of about 18 months.)

The sequel, according to Gould, takes place 15 to 20 years after the events of the original film. Flanagan is a "star in the big club world,” Gould said. But he’s divorced and estranged from his twin daughters. “Now that he’s older, he’s trying to reform himself, rehabilitate his marriage and relationship with his daughters.”

To be clear: Gould hasn't pitched the sequel to anyone. The money people, as he calls them, haven’t signed on. “If anyone wants to see it they can,” he said.

I need to pause for a moment to tell you that Heywood Gould is like a boozy Forrest Gump of pre-Giuliani New York. In the '60s and '70s, he covered the crime beat for the New York Post , served in Vietnam, returned to New York and became a professional poker player, drove a cab, wrote books, articles, and TV and movie scripts—he co-wrote the 1977 movie Rolling Thunder with Paul Schrader—got himself into serious gambling debt and worked it off as a bartender at the Hotel Diplomat's nightclub in Times Square, all the while writing Cocktail (and other books). In 1984, he published Cocktail , which Universal bought. Then he adapted the novel into a screenplay that Disney acquired from Universal.

The book is semi-autobiographical, according to Gould, who said the two main characters are composites of people he'd met behind the bar. He is neither Flanagan nor Coughlin, although in conversation Gould occasionally sounds like Coughlin.

At last year’s Sydney Film Festival, Bryan Brown said in an interview that the original script for Cocktail was one of the “very best” he’d ever read. “Very dark ... about the cult of celebrity and everything about it,” he said. But when Cruise signed on for the film, Disney sought to lighten up the script.

“They gave me a bunch of notes about making Brian more likable,” Gould recalled. “There were fights along the way, big battles with Disney about how likable to make him.”

A sequel that casts a shadow on the main character, adding nuance and depth to Brian Flanagan, would certainly be redemption for Gould. And in the age of reboots, it might be just the thing for Hollywood. (I mean, a dark reimagining of the Cocktail story is definitely something I'd see—and no worse an idea than at least half the reboots of the last decade.) But Gould isn't looking to redeem himself.

At this point in his life, he doesn’t harbor any ill will towards Disney or, for that matter, Cruise, who’s never said a negative word about Cocktail . Gould said he hung around with Cruise during the filming of the movie. Cruise, he said, would have him over to his loft on 13th Street for dinner parties. They even paired up for two-on-two basketball at the Carmine Street gym and once held the court for an hour and a half, according to Gould. “He’s a really good ball player,” Gould said. “I had to quit and get a cigarette because I was dying.”

(Look, I get it: Cruise is 5’7” and Gould was apparently a heavy smoker, but I love this story and I choose to believe it.)

When the movie came out to bad reviews, Gould fell into a brief depression. “They hated it. They hated me. They hated everything,” he said. “I was pretty shook to tell you the truth.” Gould hung around the house for a couple days, until his wife came back from the grocery store with good news: She’d overheard two people saying the movie made them think. This snapped him out of it. (He’s told versions of this story in the past. Sometimes it’s his wife who overheard people discussing the film. Sometimes it’s him.)

But he earned good money from the movie, continued to write screenplays as well as direct. In the early '90s, he directed two movies he wrote, One Good Cop starring Michael Keaton and Trial by Jury starring Gabriel Byrne. After 19 years in L.A., Gould moved back to New York when, he said, "the money ran out." Today he continues to write and still collects checks thanks to Cocktail . Its appearance on Netflix also goosed his book sales. On the first night Cocktail appeared on Netflix, Gould said he sold 47 copies of his book. “I was stunned,” he said. “Netflix has been great for me.”

Gould told the Chicago Tribune in 2013 that he was not happy with the movie when it came out. So I asked him how he felt about it today, whether he had any regrets or would do anything differently. “It’s become an institution,” he said about the movie. “I get a lot of letters from people about it. I’m happy people like it. You don’t have to see great profundity in what I do; I’m just glad you like it.”

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After Top Gun 2 is Cocktail 2 next for Tom Cruise?

Brian Flanagan might get to do the hippie hippie shake while throwing a Mojito together again.

The writer of Tom Cruise’s poorly-received but still fiscally fruitful ‘80s guilty pleasure “Cocktail” is working on a sequel.

“I have a long treatment,” Heywood Gould, who also wrote the 1984 book on which the film was based on, tells Esquire . “We’ll see what happens.”

The sequel, according to Gould, takes place 15 to 20 years after the events of the Roger Donaldson-directed original.

Flanagan is a “star in the big club world,” Gould said. But he’s divorced and estranged from his twin daughters. “Now that he’s older, he’s trying to reform himself, rehabilitate his marriage and relationship with his daughters.”

Assumingly, Flanagan married Jordan – played by Elisabeth Shue in the original. Would be nice – if, she’s in the sequel script – to see the Oscar nominee back.

Considering he gunned for a “Top Gun” sequel after all these years, there’s a fair chance Tom Cruise might actually be keen to see what Gould has come up with – but at this stage, nobody that has the power to make the movie, including Cruise, have been in contact.

Personally, I love “Cocktail” – and I’m not quite sure why. It could be that it encompassed the vibrant magnet that seethed into so many Touchstone Pictures’ releases at the time… the hot soundtrack, the popping production design, the slick cinematography, the over-dramatic but fun yarn. It might also be that it was one of the few times I remember going to see a movie with my father. That didn’t happen much – in fact, I remember only going to see three or four movies with him (“In the Line of Fire” was one, we also saw “My Fellow Americans” years later together) – which is surprising considering what big film and music fans, in general, we were but it also makes it somewhat more special that it was something that only occasionally happened.

I remember walking out of “Cocktail” and having a conversation with my father about it all-the-way home – he was raving about Bryan Brown’s performance, suggesting he should’ve gotten billed on the same level as Cruise, while I was still reeling over the cool tunes I heard in the film (the opening track, Wild Again, by Starship, is etched in my mind to this day) – which included, of course, the smash-hit by The Beach Boys, ‘Kokomo’.

Gould’s original book, which I read years later, was a very different kettle of fish to the film. In fact, so was the original screenplay – or so Bryan Brown told me years later .

“You see, the film is based on this book, which was all about the dirty underbelly of celebrity and so on, but once Tom [Cruise] came onboard everything changed”, Brown explained to Moviehole “In the scene where my character kills himself, there was supposed to a bit where I beat the shit out of Tom – like really bash him up – but the studio didn’t allow it. They cut it out. Nobody beats up Tom.”

Hopefully the sequel script is a little grittier than the original’s template – not that Brown will be around to complain about it if he does; Doug Coughlin, rest in peace.

First stop Gould should make is by Roger Donaldson’s office. The born-filmmaker has expressed interest in doing a sequel to his 1988 film in the past .

“You know, there never has been talk of a sequel, not that I’m aware of, but I do agree. It’s a great idea and would make a great movie.

“I’m not dying to do sequels, but it was very successful and people loved the movie. I’m sure everyone would love to know what happened to those characters.”

We sure would – especially that wild ‘Coral’.

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Mission : Impossible sequels get release dates

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"Cocktail" tells the story of two bartenders and their adventures in six bars and several bedrooms. What is remarkable, given the subject, is how little the movie knows about bars or drinking.

Early in the film, there's a scene where the two bartenders stage an elaborately choreographed act behind the bar. They juggle bottles in unison, one spins ice cubes into the air and the other one catches them, and then they flip bottles at each other like a couple of circus jugglers. All of this is done to rock 'n' roll music, and it takes them about four minutes to make two drinks. They get a roaring ovation from the customers in their crowded bar, which is a tip-off to the movie's glossy phoniness. This isn't bartending, it's a music video, and real drinkers wouldn't applaud, they'd shout: "Shut up and pour!" The bartenders in the film are played by Tom Cruise , as a young ex-serviceman who dreams of becoming a millionaire, and Bryan Brown , as a hard-bitten veteran who has lots of cynical advice. Brown advises Cruise to keep his eyes open for a "rich chick," because that's his ticket to someday opening his own bar. Cruise is ready for this advice.

He studies self-help books and believes that he'll be rich someday, if only he gets that big break. The movie is supposed to be about how he outgrows his materialism, although the closing scenes leave room for enormous doubts about his redemption.

The first part of the movie works the best. That's when Cruise drops out of school, becomes a full-time bartender, makes Brown his best friend and learns to juggle those bottles. In the real world, Cruise and Brown would be fired for their time-wasting grandstanding behind the bar, but in this movie they get hired to work in a fancy disco where they have a fight over a girl and Cruise heads for Jamaica.

There, as elsewhere, his twinkling eyes and friendly smile seem irresistible to the women on the other side of the bar, and he lives in a world of one-night stands. That's made possible by the fact that no one in this movie has ever heard of AIDS, not even the rich female fashion executive ( Lisa Banes ) who picks Cruise up and takes him back to Manhattan with her.

What do you think? Do you believe a millionaire Manhattan woman executive in her 30s would sleep with a wildly promiscuous bartender she picks up on the beach? Not unless she was seriously drunk. And that's another area this movie knows little about: the actual effects of drinking. Sure, Cruise gets tanked a couple of times and staggers around a little and throws a few punches. But given the premise that he and Brown drink all of the time, shouldn't they be drunk, or hung over, at least most of the time? Not in this fantasy world.

If the film had stuck to the relationship between Cruise and Brown, it might have had a chance. It makes a crucial error when it introduces a love story, involving Cruise and Elisabeth Shue , as a vacationing waitress from New York. They find true love, which is shattered when Shue sees Cruise with the rich Manhattan executive.

After the executive takes Cruise back to New York and tries to turn him into a pampered stud, he realizes his mistake and apologizes to Shue, only to discover, of course, that she is pregnant - and rich.

The last stages of the movie were written, directed and acted on automatic pilot, as Shue's millionaire daddy tries to throw Cruise out of the penthouse but love triumphs. There is not a moment in the movie's last half-hour that is not borrowed from other movies, and eventually even the talented and graceful Cruise can be seen laboring with the ungainly reversals in the script. Shue, who does whatever is possible with her role, is handicaped because her character is denied the freedom to make natural choices; at every moment, her actions are dictated by the artificial demands of the plot.

It's a shame the filmmakers didn't take a longer, harder look at this material. The movie's most interesting character is the older bartender, superbly played by Brown, who never has a false moment. If the film had been told from his point of view, it would have been a lot more interesting, but box-office considerations no doubt required the center of gravity to shift to Cruise and Shue.

One of the weirdest things about "Cocktail"' is the so-called message it thinks it contains. Cruise is painted throughout the film as a cynical, success-oriented 1980s materialist who wants only to meet a rich woman and own his own bar. That's why Shue doesn't tell him at first that she's rich. Toward the end of the movie, there's a scene where he allegedly chooses love over money, but then, a few months later, he is the owner and operator of his own slick Manhattan singles bar.

How did he finance it? There's a throwaway line about how he got some money from his uncle, a subsistence-level bartender who can't even afford a late-model car. Sure. It costs a fortune to open a slick singles bar in Manhattan, and so we are left with the assumption that Cruise's rich father-in-law came through with the financing. If the movie didn't want to leave that impression, it shouldn't have ended with the scene in the bar. But then this is the kind of movie that uses Cruise's materialism as a target all through the story and then rewards him for it at the end. The more you think about what really happens in "Cocktail," the more you realize how empty and fabricated it really is.

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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Cocktail (1988)

100 minutes

Laurence Luckinbill as Mr. Mooney

Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan

Lisa Banes as Bonnie

Elisabeth Shue as Jordan Mooney

Bryan Brown as Doug Coughlin

Directed by

• Roger Donaldson

Produced by

• Robert W. Cort

Screenplay by

• Heywood Gould

Photographed by

• Dean Semler
• Neil Travis
• J. Peter Robinson

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• A talented New York City bartender takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love.
• Bent on becoming a successful millionaire, ambitious ex-military man Brian serves drinks at a New York City tavern and studies for his degree while waiting for his big break. Then, veteran bartender and cynical mentor Doug enters the picture, convinced that their chemistry and flamboyant tricks behind the bar will soon make the dynamic bartending duo famous and rich. But all good things must come to an end. As Brian tries to raise money in Jamaica to open his dream bar, a chance encounter with beautiful young waitress Jordan leads to a whirlwind romance and heartbreak. After all, love is a delicate thing. Is Brian sure he wants a future with Jordan? — Nick Riganas
• After leaving the Army, Brian Flanagan tries to get a marketing job in New York City. But without a college degree, this is not possible. He then decides to start studying for a business degree at the local City College and gets a part time job as a bartender. He realizes that it's not easy but his new boss Douglas Coughlin teaches him the secrets of the bar trade and they become the most famous bartenders in town. Both Brian and Doug want their own top class cocktail bars someday and Brian's Cocktail Bar is to be called 'Cocktails and Dreams'. In order to get the necessary money to open it, Brian travels to Jamaica to work as a bartender at a resort Tiki Bar, and the pay is good. There he meets Jordan Mooney, a young and pretty, up and coming American artist on vacation with her girlfriend from New York City, staying at the Island resort. Jordan and Brian spend some quality time together and fall in love. But Brian takes a dare from his old buddy, Doug Coughlin to sleep with an older, wealthy woman, who is also staying at the resort. Jordan, herself the daughter of wealthy parents back in New York City, leaves the Island overnight, after seeing Brian and the older woman together after closing - Will Jordan ever forgive Brian and will they get back together? — Joshua Jaworsky <[email protected]>
• The 1988 blockbuster classic, Cocktail. After some swift study, it appears nineteen-hundred and eighty-eight transpired as a monumental twelve-month period destined to be revered in the annals of movie creation history. Flawless gems such as: Big starring Tom Hanks who played the role of a kid who hates the success every adult wants, chooses to be a kid again - only to lose his edge and become a janitor later on; Rain Man starring Dustin Hoffman, already known for his adeptness at female role-play, took on the challenging task of a relatable, semi-cognitively-challenged millionaire; finally, let us not forget Eddie Murphy's masterful role in the flick, Coming to America, where he assumes the persona of an African prince who sets out on a quest to find a plebeian Yank to be his queen and eventually, indubitably withhold coitus-rights only after depleting the monarch's coffers. Other notable flicks released in this segment of time include Beetlejuice, Mystic Pizza, Willow, Child's Play, The Naked Gun, Bloodsport, Akira, The Land Before Time, Rambo III, and Hairspray! Originally, I was reluctant to review the movie in question and a quick analysis of the IMDb profile only furthered my suspicions. Overall viewer rating, at the time of this writing, was sitting at a homely five point seven stars out of a total of ten. The metascore was even more deficient with a measly tally of twelve out of one hundred. Not to be careless, I made sure to pore over several reviews before becoming a viewer myself. One of my favorites I shall transcribe hereafter: " Cocktail makes beer commercials look deep, makes "Top Gun" look like "Hamlet." -written by Jay Carr of the Boston Globe [29 Jul 1988, p.21] Yes, friend, perhaps it is a rag. The copy writer for the Cocktail cover art would also seem to agree, as he decided to include the profound quote, "Totally Entertaining!" Let us get started then. The movie begins with a young, starry-eyed soldier named Brian Flanagan, played by everyone's favorite thetan (Tom Cruise), who has incredible ambitions of making millions, by means of mercantilism, in the Big Apple. It must be pointed out that for a film with a premise of alcohol consumption, naturally the main character would have Irish roots. After several rounds of unsurprising rejections, Brian finds himself at a crossroads; either get a job as a bartender or move back in with the parents. Naturally, Flanagan is unwilling to give-up on his dream of becoming an opulent entrepreneur, enrolls in the local business college while earning shelter and sustenance by working part-time as a rookie cockologist. Enter fellow spirit connoisseur and bullshitter, Doug Coughlin (represented by Bryan Brown), who takes the protagonist under his wing. Flanagan is taught all the tricks of the mixing trade: flips, twirls, under-hands, over-hands, in-betweens, short-pours, and long-pours; all designed to loosen men from their wallets and women from their chastities. It is not long before these two find themselves at the pinnacle of the bartending game in all of New York City, if not presumably the world. Doug and Brian are in Flanagan's apartment discussing how to get rich. They decide to become business partners and open a chain of "local-style" bars. The name for this franchise: "Cocktails & Dreams." Deliciously corny. It is around this time that I find my father fast asleep. Traditionally, he is more accustomed to a finely-tuned entertainment genre that typically focuses on exploding cars, unlimited ammunition firefights, Eastern Bloc nemeses and screaming damsels. 1988 happens to also be the year action flicks reached their golden age with the release of Die Hard starring Bruce Willis. My dad has a certain attachment to action heroes that have a predisposition to male pattern baldness, being one who is also afflicted. He loves and owns xXx starring the glabrous Vin Diesel, of which I can assure anyone reading this that it has little to do with the Eastern European sluts or Pontiac GTO cameos. Also, he has probably seen every Jason Statham movie ever made (42 at the time of this writing). Anyways, one fruitful night, Brian ends up getting seduced by a local playgirl, Coral (Gina Gershon), thus beginning a courtship based on nothing but heathenish desires. Apparently, the writer, Heywood Gould, expects the audience to believe that a gorgeous heiress is interested in a five-foot-seven-inch, hero bartender for nothing but fornication. I suppose that is all she really needs at this point, I mean, what is he going to do; buy her another purse? Doug bets Flanagan that his relationship with Coral is based on nothing and she will end up screwing with his head like a cold-hearted, aloof bitch. To win this bet, it is not long before the meister of mixology, Doug Coughlin, engages in an affair with Coral; Brian finds out. Doug claims it was for Flanagan's own good but naturally he gets walloped in the kisser, regardless. Hurt and betrayed, Brian plans to pursue his monetary ambitions in another part of the world. Feeling empowered by his business strategy of creating chain, dive bars in every mall and airport in the country, he sets off for Jamaica to earn himself roughly seventy-thousand fiat United States dollars, the sum needed for his very first one. Presumably months (years?) later, the viewer finds Brian slaving away at some seaside speakeasy serving patrons of the local hotel. It is business as usual until the very voluptuous and fetching Jordan Mooney, depicted by Elisabeth Shue, arrives barside to steal his attention. I am assuming at this point Brian was still very butthurt over the whole Coral thing and had yet to bed a nice Jamaican girl. Of course, on an island of chocolate pudding the female love interest would have to be of Celtic origins. I digress; cue montage of Brian and Jordan participating in cliché date activities like riding horseback, enjoying the local fauna, hanging out in town where stereotypical, dreadlocks dude is dancing in the street. After a mandatory conversation to see if Brian is ambitious enough for Jordan's tastes, over cocktails, the two find themselves raptured in each other's embrace. We are talking about 1988, R-rated skinny-dipping, where side-boob makes an appearance (played by Elisabeth Shue's left breast). Things start to get weird when Jordan brings up the topic of our bartender siring her offspring. Brian does not seem to mind too much; at least he knows he is doing something right and he might really like this one, this time. Sigh, if only she was rich. It is not long before Mister Flanagan finds his way to trouble, however. The loathsome shyster, and long-time amigo, Doug Coughlin makes his grand return; systematically. Coughlin is rich now; sucking from the affluent teat of his new wife, both literally and figuratively, and he has come to gloat to Brian. How can this be; how can that rat bastard have a gorgeous, young, millionairess wife? Thus far, Flanagan has been very preoccupied with wealth and status. Knowing this, Doug presents a dare, a bet, claiming that Brian is without the social graces & silver tongue to woo a rich, soon-to-be cougar by the name of Bonnie (Lisa Banes). Young and rash, Brian takes Doug up on the bet and sure shows him. Next thing I know, Bonnie is having the time of her life and is requesting more! Unfortunately, Jordan saw both Brian and Bonnie walking away together; clearly sloshed and primed for acts of intercourse. Mooney is a sweet girl and feels taken advantage of by Flanagan who clearly must be some sort of philanderer. The next day, Brian feeling disgusted with himself, sets off to find Jordan only to hear from her friend that she had already taken the red-eye back to New York City. Disappointment is only temporary as he decides to benefit from Bonnie's station in life. This could be his ticket to a high-salaried marketing career and besides, its not like she is post-menopausal, yet. New York, New York, here we are again. Brian assumes the position of Bonnie's apartment-bound gigolo; forever lured by the promise of a sales position at her company. One evening, Bonnie takes her pet to a local art gallery where her aspiring sculptor acquaintance is showing off his latest work. Flannagan is rather flustered at this point. First she will not follow through on the job, then she does not even bother to introduce him to her friends and makes him hold all her refuse. He is determined to vacate and implores that she comply. Bonnie is having a grand time talking to the artist and does not want to exit. Brian and the sculptor get into, first, an argument and then a pugilist bout. During said fisticuffs, Brian kicks the artist into a sculpture, knocking both the creator and creation to the ground. Overcome with grief, the artist loses all drive to fight as this particular statue was meant for posterity. My dad wakes up, possibly drawn to consciousness by the sounds of brawling craftsman; one of boulder, alloy and the other of ethanol, glass & garnish. With Bonnie and Brian's "relationship" finally brought to a close, Flanagan sets out to find Jordan and apologize. He finds her working at her diner job where she promptly gives him both of the day's specials; one on his head and another on his lap. Later on, Flanagan finagles his way into Jordan's apartment where he sees her impressive paintings. She reveals to him that she is pregnant, however, Mooney makes it clear she will have nothing to do with him, despite Brian's persistence. A few days later, Brian goes to confront Jordan but finds she is not at her apartment, but rather, her parents' Park Avenue flat. She is a princess after all! Naturally, Jordan's father does not like Flanagan or the situation. He attempts to pay him off but Brian refuses the ten thousand, which is an amount he could desperately use to get his bar started. Brian leaves to go grovel for a job promised to him by his old pal, Doug Coughlin. Brian sneaks in past the security of Doug's wife's club. The two cockologists reunite and decide to have a drink someplace private. Doug confides in Brian that he lost most of his wife's money by poorly investing in commodities. Having too much to drink, Coughlin falls asleep (or at least pretends to) as his wife asks to go home. Being a good friend, Brian takes her home and almost bangs her out. He leaves, resisting the horizontal-hokey-pokey and arrives where he left Doug, only to see that he has committed suicide with a very expensive, broken bottle of brandy (or something). After the funeral, Brian reads a letter left for him from Coughlin. Doug says he committed suicide because he was just a bullshitter. Brian does not want to be a piece of fecal matter anymore and discontinues emulating the deceased Doug. Flannagan goes back to Jordan's parents' Park Avenue apartment and eventually fights off both the doorman and butler. Jordan's father and Brian exchange some nasty words. After a confession of love, Jordan leaves with Brian and the father cuts them off from his vault of gold bars, jewel encrusted rings, old paintings, et cetera. After getting some seed money from his father, Brian finally opens his first bar and names it, "Flanagan's Cocktails & Dreams." Brian and Jordan have their wedding reception there; she reveals she is pregnant with twins; Flanagan gives everyone free drinks to celebrate; they probably get divorced in five to ten years; Jordan takes ownership of fifty percent of the dive bars in subsequent annulment proceedings. In conclusion, Cocktail is an iteration of an age old scenario; a coming of age story and a tale of overcoming greed and using one's pride the honorable way. Additionally, it is possible to not appreciate the good things, when you have them, and easy to not know they were good until they are gone. Real wealth is not what you have but whom you share it with. In the movie, Brian Flanagan gets a second chance but it is a lesson to all viewers that the same opportunity rarely comes around twice. When he pours, he reigns.

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The 10 Most Underrated Quotes from the Harry Potter Movies, Ranked

The 10 most powerful sith lords in star wars, ranked, the 10 best movies to watch if you liked 'bad boys: ride or die', read update.

Tom Cruise will be back on the big screen with the upcoming Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (July 12). The three-time Oscar nominee has built a successful late career with this highly successful franchise, producing numerous sequels to one of his most iconic films. However, his filmography has several other acclaimed movies that could use a sequel, especially after last year's record-breaking Top Gun: Maverick .

Top Gun: Maverick has made a big splash at the box office, making $1.023 billion. It proves that people will still go to the movie theaters if something is playing; they are willing to pay to see it instead of finding something to stream.

Top Gun may be a 30-year-old movie, but it is a movie that fans are willing to pay and see, and because of the success of Top Gun: Maverick , there may be other Tom Cruise movies that need a sequel.

Updated on June 30, 2023, by David Caballero:

10 'risky business' (1983).

Risky Business is the movie that launched Tom Cruise into 80s superstardom and cemented him as one of the decade's biggest draws. The future movie star plays rich teen Joel Goodsen, who explores his sexuality and turns his home into a brothel during his parents' vacation trip.

Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay 's Lana had great chemistry in Risky Business . Having these two characters cross paths again almost 40 years later would be interesting. What kind of work does Joel do now? Is Lana up to something interesting these days?

Watch on Paramount+

9 'The Color of Money' (1986)

The Color of Money is a Martin Scorsese movie that doesn't get the accolades of other films like Goodfellas , Taxi Driver , or The Departed . Many people don't know that The Color of Money is a sequel to the classic film The Hustler , also starring the late and iconic Paul Newman .

It would have been interesting to see Paul Newman and Tom Cruise on screen again. However, revisiting Cruise's character Vincent Lauria would still be great. Is he still arrogant and cocky like he was when he was younger, or has he matured? Does he hustle solo, or has he now become the mentor?

Watch on Tubi

8 'Cocktail' (1988)

The often mocked and critically reviled Cocktail is a movie that Tom Cruise probably wishes was forgotten. But despite all the hostility this film has received, it made a lot of money on its original release and has some excellent mixing drink scenes.

Cocktail is a movie that would probably be a better reboot than a sequel. Maybe cast Austin Butler as Cruise's character, Brian Flanagan. A sequel could be enjoyable, though. Was Brian Flanagan's business a huge success or a big flop? Did Brain and Jordan's ( Elizabeth Shue ) marriage work out, or are they now divorced?

Watch on Hulu

7 'Rain Man' (1988)

Barry Levinson 's 1988 drama Rain Man stars Cruise opposite Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman . The plot follows Charlie, a carefree young man who reunites with his brother Raymond, an autistic savant, following their father's death. Rain Man was a major box-office success and won several Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Hoffman.

A sequel to Rain Man could be interesting to explore, especially considering its bittersweet ending. Did Charlie and Raymond stay in touch despite the challenges? However, any potential follow-up would receive considerable criticism, considering Hoffman, a neurotypical actor, would be portraying a character with autism.

6 'Jerry Maguire' (1996)

Cruise delivers arguably the best performance of his career in Cameron Crowe 's 1996 sports romantic comedy Jerry Maguire . The actor plays the titular role, a sports agent who starts his own management business, joined only by Dorothy Boyd, a young single mother. With only one client to his name, Jerry falls in love with Dorothy as he tries to make his business work.

Jerry Maguire is among the all-time best romantic comedies . Cruise gives his most heartfelt, earnest performance as the slick and spirited Jerry Maguire, creating a compelling and sympathetic figure audiences fall instantly in love with. A sequel would be ideal, allowing fans to see how Jerry's business went and how his relationship with Dorthy developed.

5 'Magnolia' (1999)

Paul Thomas Anderson 's Magnolia isn't everybody's cup of tea; thus, a sequel might not be a particularly great idea. But a movie about an aging Frank TJ Mackey could be compelling. Cruise shocked and won over audiences by playing the misogynistic character Frank TJ Mackie. He is a charismatic jerk who teaches desperate guys how to get laid with his motivational speeches and products.

Cruise delivers career-best work in Magnolia , and it would be interesting to revisit a character like TJ Mackey over 20 years later. Has he changed? Is he still a jerk, or did his encounter with his father in Magnolia change him?

4 'Minority Report' (2022)

Cruise stars in Steven Spielberg 's 2002 sci-fi action thriller Minority Report . Set in a future where a police organization can stop crimes before they happen using clairvoyants known as "precogs," the plot centers on John Anderton, a man on the run after being accused of a crime he hasn't committed yet.

A chilling movie about the dangers of surveillance , Minority Report is among Spielberg's most interesting and thought-provoking efforts. A sequel could explore the fate of the prisoners released at the film's ending while following the precogs' stories. Cruise and Samantha Morton would return, ideally with Spielberg's involvement.

Watch on Showtime

3 'Tropic Thunder' (2008)

Ben Stiller directed and starred in the 2008 war comedy Tropic Thunder . The plot centers on a group of arrogant actors shooting a war movie without realizing they have been dropped in an actual war. Cruise plays the scene-stealing supporting role of Les Grossman, the film's vulgar producer.

Tropic Thunder is among the 21st century's best war comedies . Cruise delivers an outrageous performance as the over-the-top and profane Les Grossman, becoming one of the film's most memorable aspects. A sequel focusing on Grossman would allow Cruise to flex his comedic muscles while delivering another scathing satire of Hollywood.

2 'Knight and Day' (2010)

Cruise stars opposite Cameron Diaz in James Mangold 's romantic action thriller Knight and Day . The story revolves around the quirky June Havens, a woman who becomes accidentally involved in a dangerous plot after meeting the charming Roy Miller in an airport on her way to her sister's wedding.

Benefitting from Cruise and Diaz's electric chemistry, Knight and Day expertly blends romance with action and humor. A sequel would continue June and Roy's story, perhaps showing them on another globe-trotting mission together. Audiences hardly need a reason to see these two movie stars together, especially if they're kicking bad guys' butts!

1 'Edge of Tomorrow' (2014)

Doug Liman 's ambitious and cerebral sci-fi Edge of Tomorrow stars Cruise and Emily Blunt . The plot follows Major William Cage, a PR official with no combat experience, who finds himself trapped in a time loop after being sent to battle during a violent alien invasion.

Cruise and Blunt are perfect together, with the actor delivering one of his most unexpectedly vulnerable performances. The film ends with a decisive victory for humanity; however, Edge of Tomorrow 's weighty plot leaves several possibilities open, and making a sequel would be an easy and rewarding task.

Watch on Max

NEXT: Essential Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked

• Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

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There are no surprises in Cocktail , a shallow, dramatically inert romance that squanders Tom Cruise's talents in what amounts to a naive barkeep's banal fantasy.

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Roger Donaldson

Brian Flanagan

Bryan Brown

Douglas 'Doug' Coughlin

Elisabeth Shue

Jordan Mooney

Laurence Luckinbill

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Brian Flanagan

Bryan Brown

Douglas 'Doug' Coughlin

Elisabeth Shue

Jordan Mooney

Laurence Luckinbill

Traditional values trump glitz. Not for kids.

• Average 4.2

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Mixing It Up: Exploring the Iconic Cocktails from the Movie “Cocktail”

• developer on September 19, 2023

“Cocktail,” the 1988 romantic drama film directed by Roger Donaldson, is not just a classic of its time; it’s a celebration of mixology and the art of crafting the perfect cocktail. Starring Tom Cruise as the charming bartender Brian Flanagan, the film takes us on a journey through the world of bartending, love, and friendship. Along the way, it introduces us to several iconic cocktails that have since become staples in the world of mixology. In this article, we’ll delve into the delicious details of these cocktails, their history, and how you can recreate them at home.

The Red Eye

Our journey through the world of “Cocktail” begins with the Red Ey e, a simple yet refreshing cocktail. In the movie, Brian Flanagan (Tom Cruise) impresses his mentor Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown) by making this drink for the first time.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. vodka
• 1 oz. tomato juice
• 1 dash of hot sauce
• 1 dash of Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Fill a shaker with ice.
• Add vodka, tomato juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.
• Shake well.
• Strain into a chilled glass filled with ice.
• Garnish with a lemon wedge and celery stick.

The Red Eye is a classic cocktail, often referred to as a “Bloody Mary Lite.” It’s perfect for those who enjoy the tangy flavors of tomato juice and a hint of spice.

The Woo Woo

Next up is the Woo Woo , a sweet and fruity cocktail that makes an appearance in the film during a beach party scene.

• 1/2 oz. peach schnapps
• 3 oz. cranberry juice
• Add vodka, peach schnapps, and cranberry juice.
• Strain into a chilled glass.
• Garnish with a lime wedge or a cherry.

The Woo Woo is a delightful and easy-to-make cocktail, making it a favorite at parties and gatherings.

The Jamaican Bobsled

The Jamaican Bobsled is another fun and tropical cocktail featured in the movie. It’s a colorful and flavorful drink that reflects the movie’s beachy vibes.

• 1 1/2 oz. white rum
• 1/2 oz. coconut cream
• 1/2 oz. blue curaçao
• 2 oz. pineapple juice
• Crushed ice
• Fill a blender with crushed ice.
• Add white rum, coconut cream, blue curaçao, and pineapple juice.
• Blend until smooth.
• Pour into a chilled glass.
• Garnish with a pineapple slice and a cherry.

The Jamaican Bobsled is a tropical paradise in a glass. Its vibrant blue color and refreshing flavors make it a hit at beach-themed parties.

• The Last Barman Poet

Named after Brian Flanagan’s poetic ambitions in the movie, The Last Barman Poet is a cocktail that represents the artistry and creativity of bartending.

• 1 1/2 oz. light rum
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• Lime twist for garnish
• Add light rum, blue curaçao, lime juice, simple syrup, and pineapple juice.
• Shake vigorously.
• Strain into a chilled martini glass.
• Garnish with a lime twist.

The Last Barman Poet is a cocktail that pays homage to the creativity and passion of bartenders. Its bright blue color and balanced flavors make it a true work of art.

The Flaming Dr. Pepper

In one of the film’s most memorable scenes, Brian Flanagan and Doug Coughlin introduce the audience to the Flaming Dr. Pepper , a daring and fiery cocktail that involves lighting the drink on fire before consuming it.

• 3/4 oz. amaretto liqueur
• 1/4 oz. high-proof rum (overproof)
• 1/2 glass of beer (lager)
• Pour the amaretto into a shot glass.
• Float the high-proof rum on top of the amaretto.
• Fill a beer glass halfway with beer.
• Carefully ignite the amaretto and rum in the shot glass.
• Drop the flaming shot glass into the beer glass.
• Blow out the flame, and drink the cocktail quickly through a straw.

The Flaming Dr. Pepper is not for the faint of heart, but it’s undoubtedly a showstopper at any gathering.

But here is more. Here is a list of cocktails that are either made, mentioned, or play a role in various scenes throughout the film:

• Bloody Mary
• Brandy Alexander
• The Righteous Bison
• Black Russian
• Jamaican Bobsled
• The Frozen Banana Daiquiri
• Planters Punch
• Irish Coffee
• Old-Fashioned
• Vodka Martini
• Amaretto Sour
• Screwdriver
• Tom Collins
• Dry Martini
• Flaming Dr. Pepper

The movie “Cocktail” may be a love story, but it’s also a love letter to the art of mixology and the delightful world of cocktails. Each of the cocktails featured in the film has its unique charm and flavor profile, making them a hit with fans and cocktail enthusiasts alike. Whether you’re sipping on a Red Eye, enjoying the tropical vibes of the Jamaican Bobsled, or daring to try the Flaming Dr. Pepper, these cocktails are a testament to the creativity and craftsmanship that go into the world of mixology. So, the next time you watch “Cocktail,” consider shaking up one of these iconic drinks to enhance your viewing experience.

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Edge of tomorrow 2 is now closer than ever thanks to tom cruise's new deal.

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Tom Cruise's Next Long-Delayed Sequel Needs To Be His Priority Over Top Gun 3

Millie bobby brown's new netflix record leaves no doubt about her stranger things replacement, bad boys: ride or die ending explained, edge of tomorrow 2 development could be part of tom cruise's warner bros. deal, edge of tomorrow 2 update: emily blunt has read script, casts doubt on sequel.

• Tom Cruise's new deal with Warner Bros. could finally make Edge of Tomorrow 2 happen after years of limbo.
• Cruise's return to Warner Bros. could pave the way for Live Die Repeat and Repeat to move past pre-production.
• Despite recent sequels with mixed results, Cruise is no longer hesitant to make sequels, making Edge of Tomorrow 2 more likely.

The long-awaited Edge of Tomorrow 2 might now be closer than ever thanks to a new deal between Tom Cruise and Warner Bros. Tom Cruise continues to be one of the most popular and profitable action stars in the film industry, a spot he has maintained since the 1980s, beginning with his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Tony Scott’s Top Gun . Cruise’s popularity continued throughout the 1990s thanks to Mission: Impossible and other projects outside the action genre, as were the comedy-drama Jerry Maguire and the psychological drama Eyes Wide Shut .

The expansion of the Mission: Impossible franchise has kept Cruise active in the action genre throughout the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s, but in 2014, he explored another side of this genre with Edge of Tomorrow . Based on the 2004 novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka and directed by Doug Liman, Edge of Tomorrow takes the audience to a future where most of Europe is taken over by an alien race. When Major William Cage (Cruise) is forced to join a landing operation against them, he finds himself in a time loop. Despite Edge of Tomorrow ’s critical and commercial success, a sequel has been lost in limbo for years , but Cruise’s latest studio deal can finally make Edge of Tomorrow 2 happen.

While the idea of Top Gun 3 happening is exciting, Tom Cruise should shift his focus to a long-delayed sci-fi sequel that needs him to move forward.

Tom Cruise Has History With Warner Bros. (But Not In A Decade)

Cruise last worked with the studio on the original edge of tomorrow.

Warner Bros. has announced a new deal with Tom Cruise through which they will jointly develop and produce “ original and franchise theatrical films ” starring Cruise, beginning in 2024. This isn’t Tom Cruise’s first time working with Warner Bros., and this deal marks his big return to the studio. Warner Bros. is the studio behind some of Cruise’s biggest movies , such as Risky Business (which is widely considered his breakthrough role), the horror movie Interview with the Vampire (where he played Lestat), Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut , and Magnolia , for which Cruise got an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Cruise’s last project with Warner Bros. was Edge of Tomorrow , in 2014, so his return to the studio could be the push that Edge of Tomorrow 2 needs to finally happen. As mentioned above, Cruise’s new deal with Warner is to make movies both franchise and original, and Edge of Tomorrow being the last big success they had together, it’s a good sign for Edge of Tomorrow 2 .

Since Edge of Tomorrow , Cruise’s career has been mostly focused on expanding other franchises, mostly the Mission: Impossible one, but having him back again with Warner makes the expansion of Edge of Tomorrow a lot more likely .

Edge Of Tomorrow 2 Has Been Kicked Around For Years

All original players have expressed a desire to continue the story.

Despite not having an open ending, Edge of Tomorrow left the door open for a sequel as Cage fulfilled his mission and was thrown back to the past, though with a much brighter future. In 2016, Doug Liman signed on to direct the sequel , and that same year, he said Edge of Tomorrow 2 would “ revolutionize how people make sequels ” as it was “ a sequel that’s a prequel ” (via Collider ).

Tom Cruise’s deal with Warner Bros. can put an end to the scheduling conflicts that have been delaying Edge of Tomorrow 2...

The following year, the title for the sequel, Live Die Repeat and Repeat , was revealed, and Cruise and Blunt were said to be reprising their roles, but the project began to face a couple of obstacles, mostly the schedules of Blunt, Cruise, and Liman. Tom Cruise’s deal with Warner Bros. can put an end to the scheduling conflicts that have been delaying Edge of Tomorrow 2 , and if Blunt and Liman are still up for it, Live Die Repeat and Repeat could finally be on its way to moving past pre-production hell.

Tom Cruise Is Doing More Sequels Lately

Cruise has had disappointments and great successes with recent sequels.

Unlike a number of other high-profile Hollywood stars, Tom Cruise spent many years of his career largely avoiding franchise filmmaking. He kept the Mission: Impossible movies going, but the idea of him wanting to return for Edge of Tomorrow 2 was exciting because of how rare it was to have him return to a role. However, in recent years, Cruise has shown more of a willingness to make sequels which has had mixed results.

Following his box office success in bringing the character of Jack Reacher to the big screen, it seemed like a perfect franchise to carry on. However, the first attempt at a sequel, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back , was a financial and critical failure that ended those franchise plans and led to the character being rebooted as a television series with Alan Ritchson in the lead role.

While that wasn't a disappointment for Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick proved to exceed nearly everyone's expectations as a long-awaited follow-up movie. Decades after the 1986 original, Top Gun: Maverick saw Cruise return to the role of hotshot pilot Maverick in a film that became the highest-grossing movie of Cruise's career. Not only that, but it was a critical success as well, with it even earning a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars.

With Mission: Impossible 8 also on the way , it is clear that Cruise is no longer as hesitant to make sequels. Even with missteps like Jack Reacher 2 , Cruise has a better track record with sequels than most actors. If Edge of Tomorrow 2 does indeed happen, it is safe to say that it is because Cruise sees it as a worthwhile project and not a mindless cash grab.

Edge of Tomorrow

*Availability in US

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Based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's novel All You Need is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow follows Major William Cage (Tom Cruise), who finds himself drafted into humanity's ongoing war against a seemingly unstoppable race of hostile aliens called Mimics. Cage is killed in combat, but wakes in a time loop, reliving the same battle day after day. Gradually, he realizes that if he teams up with the decorated war hero Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), he can exploit the time loop to defeat the Mimic army and save the human race. 

Edge Of Tomorrow 2: Will It Happen? Everything We Know

• Edge of Tomorrow 2

“This is like, eh”: Tom Cruise Approached One Director to Helm Top Gun 2 Who Declined His Request Only to Publicly Call ‘Maverick’ Mediocre After Release

Top Gun: Maverick came more than three decades after the release of the first film starring Tom Cruise in the lead, and yet, it was as much of a resounding success as the original film from 1986. However, unlike a lot of stuff and people that were brought back from the first movie in this 2022 one, legendary filmmaker Tony Scott wasn’t one because of his devastating demise in 2012.

Since the younger Scott wasn’t there, Cruise reportedly decided to approach the older and equally legendary Scott brother, Ridley Scott, to helm the second movie in his Aviation film series. However, he was surprisingly not only met with a declined request by the iconic director, with the movie going to Joseph Kosinski instead, but was even met with his film being considered mediocre by Ridley!

Tom Cruise Reportedly Approached Ridley Scott for  Top Gun: Maverick

Back in 1986, Tony Scott brought the first  Top Gun movie distributed by Paramount Pictures to life through a script written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., with Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer producing, and he did an insanely epic job at that.

Although quite a few critics hesitated to pass it on as a masterpiece, the film still went on to gross a stunning $357.46 million on its production budget of a meager $15 million (as per The Numbers ), becoming one of the most successful and biggest fan-favorite movies of that year.

With such an immaculate success, a sequel was obviously greatly expected, and Tom Cruise , who starred as the protagonist Maverick in the movie, was approached for the same in 1990. However, the action star, at that time, declined the offer due to his own reasons.

“I’d be thrilled to work with again”: Tom Cruise’s Top Gun 3 Can Bring Back One Marvel Star Who Almost Replaced Jon Hamm in ‘Maverick’

But fast forward to 20 years later, in 2010, things were about to change. This was because Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer pitched a new plot for a sequel to the 1986 masterpiece to Cruise, and the actor agreed to reprise his role this time.

However, the future for this sequel became fuzzy once again as tragedy struck in 2012 with the iconic legend Tony’s death. But Cruise wasn’t one to give up so easily, and, as per @ATRightMovies on X , the person he approached to helm the movie was none other than Tony’s brother Ridley.

Tom Cruise Fans Will Be Jealous: ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Maker Gave Glen Powell Access to His One Never-Seen-Before Movie That Audiences Will Never Get to Watch

Yet, the  Mission: Impossible actor was only met with some sour luck as Ridley Scott politely declined to do the project. But finally, after a lot of searching and meeting up with multiple other directors, Cruise finally met his match with Joseph Kosinski.

The rest was history, as fans already know how perfectly the  Oblivion director Joseph Kosinski ended up helming  Top Gun: Maverick , considering how it not only became a massive fan-favorite with its release but even scored a 96% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Not only that, but this sequel’s box office numbers from its grossing worldwide were equally satisfying considering how it made a whopping $1.46 billion on its production budget of $170 million, according to the figures listed by The Numbers .

And yet, Ridley Scott still didn’t find the movie good enough.

Ridley Scott Publicly Expressed His Disapproval of  Top Gun: Maverick

While declining to make a movie his late brother pitched was one thing, Ridley didn’t even hesitate to let his feelings known on the sequel after it was released. And, surprisingly enough, his reviews were anything but good even though he  seemingly respected the movie.

According to what filmmaker Fede Álvarez shared at the DGA Latino Summit 2023 while talking to fellow director Guillermo del Toro:

I asked him about the new ‘Top Gun’ and he’s like ‘meh.’

Obviously, this response had even the  Don’t Breathe director dumbfounded because he wasn’t expecting to receive such a review on such a critically acclaimed movie.

Top Gun 3: Glen Powell’s Return Sets Up a Major Headache for Tom Cruise That the Script Needs to Tackle Better Than ‘Maverick’

As Fede Álvarez continued to reveal the rest of his conversation:

I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And he was like, ‘My brother’s was original and this is like eh.’ He really respected it, but you could see how tough he was. So I was like, ‘There’s no way I win this one.’

Well, for what it’s worth, the story for this sequel was also pitched by Tony Scott, so considering it not a part of his legacy would be offending. At the same time, the  Alien director is renowned for being one of the biggest critics in the industry, so he must have a reason behind his decision as well.

Nonetheless, you can watch  Top Gun and  Top Gun: Maverick on Paramount+.

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Cocktail | Full Movie | Movies Anywhere

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Rotten Tomatoes® Score

Cruise was never been a bad actor, but this film about a flaming sex symbol has elevated him to definitive stardom. [Full review in Spanish]

Cocktail kicks off with an entertainingly lighthearted opening stretch revolving around Brian's initial entry into the world of bartending...

Cocktail is a vacuous throwback to Saturday Night Fever -- without the cultural novelty. The script is spiked with some comic lines, but overproof doses of inadvertent humor kill the effect.

As if realizing that his star hasn't smiled for 15 minutes, Donaldson tacks on a goody-goody ending that would shame the Care Bears. How to sum up what went wrong? Cruise has a line in the movie: "Flat beer from rusty pipes."

Ultimately, the ideas in this film fall as flat as stale beer and honest emotions are as watered down as cheap whiskey. This Cocktail is definitely on the rocks.

Cocktail is so steeped in corn, the drama seems comedic and the comedy is about as funny as a hangover.

Cocktail is a bottle of rotgut in a Dom Perignon box.

The pairing of old-hand Brown and young-hand Cruise may have been meant to remind us of Cruise and Paul Newman; if so, think of this as The Color of Counterfeit Money.

Perhaps the best one can say for this bland concoction mixed by agents and the studio executives is that every bartender in Hollywood wants to be Tom Cruise and that suffices as an ironic subtext.

It may not be a megaton bomb, but Cocktail is definitely of the Molotov type.

Additional Info

• Genre : Drama, Comedy
• Release Date : July 29, 1988
• Languages : English, Spanish
• Captions : English, Spanish
• Audio Format : 5.1

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In January, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy jetted to London to connect with the new crown jewel of the studio, Tom Cruise . The three met to identify a film that would kick off their nonexclusive “strategic partnership.” Sources say a raft of possibilities were discussed, including an “Edge of Tomorrow” follow-up and Quentin Tarantino ’s “The Movie Critic,” which currently isn’t set up with a distributor and has Warner Bros., like every major studio, salivating.

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“The strategy at Warner Bros. right now and the reason they made some of these big star deals is they’re basically playing with other people’s money,” says one insider. “They’re shopping for Quentin or Cruise with the notion they can use it as a shiny object that is going to be additive when Zaslav sells the company.”

That time may be approaching. In April, Warner Bros. Discovery can entertain offers to buy, sell or merge with a studio like NBCUniversal, as many on the lot believe will happen. That’s when the two-year lock-up period expires as part of the 2022 deal that united WarnerMedia and Discovery. All of the recent moves, from a first-look pact with Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap to the quest to land Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” follow-up are akin to painting a house before it hits the market.

And this is one splashy renovation. The budget for Todd Phillips’ musical “Joker” sequel — one of De Luca and Abdy’s first green lights — has ballooned to about $200 million, a significant bump from the $60 million cost of the first film. Sources say Joaquin Phoenix is getting $20 million to reprise his role as the clown prince of crime, while Lady Gaga is taking home about $12 million to play Harley Quinn. “Joker” took in more than $1 billion, but musicals are tricky. Case in point: Warners lost $40 million on last year’s “The Color Purple,” according to sources. Though that one can be blamed on the previous regime.

Some argue that spending big is essential when releasing movies in theaters.

“There’s only so much top talent in Hollywood, and it’s very competitive and stretched thin because a lot of talent have deals in streaming,” says Jeff Bock of Exhibitor Relations. “If theatrical is going to work, you need the A-lister like Tom and Leo, and Warner Bros. is spending what they need to spend to keep this talent.”

But executives across town believe Warners’ math sometimes doesn’t add up, with the studio decried as fiscally irresponsible. The Anderson film, for instance, was greenlit with a $115 million budget, according to sources. Underscoring the gamble, none of the director’s movies has crossed $80 million at the box office. His latest, 2021’s “Licorice Pizza,” made $33 million worldwide. Even with Cruise’s star power, “Magnolia” only mustered $48.5 million. (It was De Luca, then a New Line exec, who convinced Cruise to play “Magnolia’s” misogynistic self-help guru.) The pair are said to be less pumped about another auteur’s latest: Bong Joon Ho ’s “Mickey 17.” In January, Warner Bros. pulled the $150 million Robert Pattinson sci-fi starrer from its schedule and then moved it to 2025. A Warner rep insists: “There is, of course, enthusiasm for it.”

As merger mania draws near, De Luca and Abdy seem unwilling to push back on talent asks. But apparently they did just that during the Coogler-Jordan negotiations. The director and star wanted 25% of first-dollar gross to split and two guaranteed theatrical release slots for future films. Both deal points were nixed.

Despite the pressure to acquiesce to demands from top talent, De Luca and Abdy can still say no.

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Cocktail [Region 2]

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Product Description

Brian Flanagan (Tom Cruise) is a self-assured young man trying to enter the business world in New York - but the only job he can get is tending a bar. Teaming up with older barman Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown), Brian soon becomes the hottest cocktail-mixer in town, and the pair plan to open their own chain of bars. Unfortunately, Brian soon discovers that he has responsibilities nearer home.

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• Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.85:1
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.59 x 7.48 inches; 2.47 ounces
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ B0000634AO
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
• Language ‏ : ‎ English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0000634AO
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• #32,170 in DVD

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Actor Tom Cruise is the star of several box-office hits, including Risky Business , A Few Good Men , The Firm , Jerry Maguire , and the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Who Is Tom Cruise?

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, better known as Tom Cruise, was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, to Mary and Thomas Mapother. Cruise's mother was an amateur actress and schoolteacher, and his father was an electrical engineer. His family moved around a great deal when Cruise was a child to accommodate his father's career.

Cruise's parents divorced when he was 11, and the children moved with their mother to Louisville, Kentucky, and then to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, after she remarried. Like his mother and three sisters, Cruise suffered from dyslexia, which made academic success difficult for him. He excelled in athletics, however, and considered pursuing a career in professional wrestling until a knee injury sidelined him during high school.

At age 14, Cruise enrolled in a Franciscan seminary with thoughts of becoming a priest, but he left after a year. When he was 16, a teacher encouraged him to participate in the school's production of the musical Guys and Dolls . After Cruise won the lead of Nathan Detroit, he found himself surprisingly at home on the stage, and a career was born.

'Taps,' 'The Outsiders'

Cruise set a 10-year deadline for himself in which to build an acting career. He left school and moved to New York City, struggling through audition after audition before landing an appearance in 1981's Endless Love , starring Brooke Shields. Around this same time, he snagged a small role in the military school drama Taps (1981), co-starring Sean Penn .

His role in Taps was upgraded after director Harold Becker saw Cruise's potential, and his performance caught the attention of a number of critics and filmmakers. In 1983, Cruise appeared in Francis Ford Coppola 's The Outsiders , which also starred Emilio Estevez , Matt Dillon and Rob Lowe —all prominent members of a group of young actors the entertainment press dubbed the "Brat Pack." The film was not well received, but it allowed Cruise to work with an acclaimed director on a high-profile project.

'Risky Business'

His next film, Risky Business (1983), grossed $65 million. It also made Cruise a highly recognizable actor — thanks in no small part to a memorable scene of the young star dancing in his underwear.

In 1986, after a two-year hiatus, the budding actor released the big-budget fantasy film Legend , which did poorly at the box office. That same year, however, Cruise's A-list status was confirmed with the release of Top Gun , which co-starred Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan . The testosterone-fueled action-romance, set against the backdrop of an elite naval flight school, became the highest-grossing film of 1986.

'The Color of Money,' 'Rain Man' and 'Born on the Fourth of July'

Cruise followed the tremendous success of Top Gun with a string of both critically acclaimed and commercially successful films. He first starred in The Color of Money (1986) with co-star Paul Newman , and then went on to work with Dustin Hoffman on Rain Man (1988). Cruise's next role, as Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic in the biopic Born on the Fourth of July (1989), earned him an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

'A Few Good Men,' 'The Firm' and 'Interview with a Vampire'

In 1992, Cruise proved once more that he could hold his own opposite a screen legend when he co-starred with Jack Nicholson in the military courtroom drama A Few Good Men . The film grossed more than $15 million its first weekend and earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. He continued to demonstrate his success as a leading man with The Firm (1993) and Interview with a Vampire (1994), which co-starred Brad Pitt.

'Mission: Impossible,' 'Jerry McGuire'

Next, Cruise hit the big screen with two huge hits—the $64 million blockbuster Mission: Impossible (1996), which the star also produced, and the highly acclaimed Jerry McGuire (1996), directed by Cameron Crowe. For the latter, Cruise earned a second Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe for Best Actor.

'Eyes Wide Shut,' 'Magnolia'

Cruise and then-wife Kidman spent much of 1997 and 1998 in England shooting Eyes Wide Shut , an erotic thriller that would be director Stanley Kubrick 's final film. The movie came out in the summer of 1999 to mixed reviews, but that year Cruise enjoyed greater success with the release of Magnolia . His performance as a self-confident sex guru in the ensemble film earned him another Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

'Vanilla Sky,' 'The Last Samurai'

Cruise then starred in the long-awaited smash hit Mission: Impossible 2 in 2000, alongside Anthony Hopkins , Thandie Newton and Ving Rhames. In 2002, he starred in Vanilla Sky , his second collaboration with Crowe, as well as Steven Spielberg 's Minority Report . The following year, Cruise traveled to Australia to shoot the $100 million war epic The Last Samurai, which earned him another Golden Globe nomination.

'War of the Worlds'

Cruise proved he remained a top draw by starring in the Spielberg-directed remake of the science-fiction classic War of the Worlds (2005), which grossed more than $230 million at the box office.

His next effort, Mission: Impossible 3 (2006), also scored well with audiences. However, Cruise was faced with a professional setback in August when Paramount Pictures ended its 14-year relationship with the actor. The company's chairman cited Cruise's erratic behavior and controversial views as the reason for the split, though industry experts noted that Paramount more likely ended the partnership over Cruise's high earnings from the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Cruise quickly rebounded and on November 2, 2006, he announced his new partnership with film executive Paula Wagner and the United Artists film studio. Their first production as a team, the political drama Lions for Lambs (2007), proved a commercial disappointment despite a strong cast that included Meryl Streep and Robert Redford .

'Tropic Thunder'

Taking a break from weighty material, Cruise delighted audiences with his performance in the comedy Tropic Thunder (2008). Despite his relatively small role in a movie that featured Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller , Cruise stood out by obscuring his trademark good looks to play a balding, obese movie studio executive.

'Valkyrie,' 'Rock of Ages'

In December 2008, Cruise released his second project through United Artists. The film, Valkyrie , was a World War II drama about a plot to assassinate German leader Adolf Hitler . Cruise starred as a German army officer who became involved in the conspiracy.

Cruise returned to one of his most popular franchises in 2011 with Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol . Breaking into new territory, he then starred in the 2012 musical Rock of Ages . Although Cruise received some positive reviews for his performance as a rock star, the movie failed to attract much of an audience.

'Jack Reacher,' 'Edge of Tomorrow'

Returning to his mainstream action roots, Cruise starred in the 2012 crime drama Jack Reacher , based on a book by Lee Child. He then headlined a pair of science-fiction adventures, Oblivion (2013) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014). Showing no signs of slowing down, the veteran actor in 2015 delivered his usual high-energy performance for the fifth installment of his blockbuster franchise, Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation .

Latest Movies and Familiar Franchises

In 2016, Cruise reprised the role of Jack Reacher for Never Go Back . He then headlined a reboot of The Mummy (2017), which performed respectably at the box office but was savaged by critics, before earning better reviews later that year for the crime thriller American Made .

2018 brought a return to familiar territory for Cruise, who starred in Mission Impossible —Fallout that summer. Prior to its release, he tweeted a photo to mark day 1 of production on the long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick , scheduled for a June 2020 release.

Scientology and Personal Life

Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers in 1987. It was through Rogers that the actor became a student of Scientology, the religion founded by writer L. Ron Hubbard. Cruise credited the church with curing his dyslexia, and he soon became one of its leading proponents. However, while his spiritual life flourished, his marriage to Rogers ended in 1990. That same year, Cruise made the racecar drama Days of Thunder alongside Kidman. Though the movie was unpopular among critics and fans alike, the two lead actors had real chemistry. On Christmas Eve 1990, after a brief courtship, Cruise and Kidman married in Telluride, Colorado.

Divorce from Kidman

For much of the 1990s, Cruise and Kidman found themselves fiercely defending the happiness and legitimacy of their marriage. They filed two different lawsuits against tabloid publications for stories they considered libelous. In each case, the couple received a published retraction and apology, along with a large monetary settlement which they donated to charity. The couple has two children, Isabella and Connor.

On February 5, 2001, Cruise and Kidman announced their separation after 11 years of marriage. The couple cited the difficulties involved with two acting careers and the amount of time spent apart while working. Following the divorce, Cruise briefly dated his Vanilla Sky co-star Penelope Cruz , followed by a much-publicized relationship with actress Katie Holmes. A month after his ties to Holmes became public, Cruise professed his love for the actress in a now-famous appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, during which he jumped on Winfrey's sofa, shouting "Yes!"

Marriage to Katie Holmes

In June 2005, after a two-month courtship, Cruise proposed to Holmes in a restaurant at the top of the Eiffel tower. In October, they announced that they were expecting their first child together. The hasty proposal and surprise pregnancy quickly became tabloid gossip. But Cruise made even bigger headlines that year as an outspoken advocate for Scientology. He openly criticized former co-star Brooke Shields for using anti-depressants during her recovery from postpartum depression. He also denounced psychiatry and modern medicine, claiming Scientology held the key to true healing. Cruise's statements led to a heated argument with news anchor Matt Lauer on The Today Show in June 2005, for which Cruise later apologized.

In 2006, Cruise and Holmes welcomed daughter Suri into the world. That year, they were married in an Italian castle, with celebrities Will Smith , Jada Pinkett Smith , Jennifer Lopez and Victoria and David Beckham among those in attendance. However, the storybook romance wouldn't last, and in June 2012, the couple announced their separation.

QUICK FACTS

• Birth Year: 1962
• Birth date: July 3, 1962
• Birth State: New York
• Birth City: Syracuse
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Actor Tom Cruise is the star of several box-office hits, including 'Risky Business,' 'A Few Good Men,' 'The Firm,' 'Jerry Maguire' and the 'Mission: Impossible' franchise.
• Astrological Sign: Cancer

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Tom Cruise Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/actors/tom-cruise
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: March 26, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014

The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. To meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us

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61 Fascinating Facts About Tom Cruise

1. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV  was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, N.Y., to  Thomas Cruise Mapother III , an electrical engineer, and Mary Lee Pfeiffer , both of Louisville, Ky. (His grandfather and great-grandfather were both Thomas Cruise Mapother, as well.)

2. He has two older sisters, Lee Anne and Marian , and one younger sister, Catherine , nicknamed Cass. 

3. Cruise wanted to act from around the time he was 4 and started doing impressions of everyone from Donald Duck to Humphrey Bogart and Elvis Presley .

4. In 1974, when the family was living in Ottawa, Mary Lee packed up and took the kids back to Louisville. She officially divorced Tom III in August 1975 and, six weeks later, he remarried, briefly. Joan Lebendiger , recently widowed, had four kids, one of whom later told biographer Andrew Morton that they never saw their stepbrother Tom again after the wedding.

"As a kid, I had a lot of hidden anger about that. I'd get hit, and I didn't understand it," Cruise  recalled to  Vanity Fair  in 1994.

"He was the kind of guy who really got picked on a lot at school himself when he was growing up," he said of his father. "He had also been small, though he ended up being six foot two. People had been quite brutal to him. Inside, I believe he was a really sensitive individual." Tom III could also "actually be quite loving." 

But in 2006 he told Parade  that his dad was "a bully and a coward—the person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you. It was a great lesson in my life, how he'd lull you in, make you feel safe and then, bang!"

Cruise visited his father in the hospital before he died of cancer in 1984 and Tom III said he'd get better and they would "'talk about the whole thing,'" the actor told  VF , but that never came to pass.

5. Tom was very close to his mother, whom he described to James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio   as "a very warm, charismatic woman, very kind, very generous." She worked four jobs at any given time to take care of them, and Tom had a paper route to pitch in. "Every night I'd come home, bathe my feet and sit in the family room, and Tom would massage my feet for a half-hour," Mary Lee recalled to Rolling Stone . (She died at 80 in 2017.)

6. He was also protective of his sisters and, as the man of the house, took on the role of scrutinizing their boyfriends when they'd come by to meet the family.

7. Cruise was raised Catholic and he spent his freshman year of high school at St. Francis Seminary in Cincinnati, after a priest named Father Ric Schneider gave a talk at his (also Catholic) school in Louisville. "He was a typical teenager, trying to find his way in life," Schneider told the New York Daily News in 2013. "We would give them an IQ test, and he just about made the cut. The cutoff is 110, and he scored exactly 110."

It's been rumored that Cruise considered entering the priesthood, but he doesn't it remember it that way. "We didn't have the money back then, and I went for the education for a year, and it was free," Cruise has explained.

8. Mary Lee got remarried to Jack South in 1978 and the whole family moved to New Jersey when Tom was 16.

"In the beginning, I felt threatened by my stepfather," Cruise told Rolling Stone . "There's a part of you that's in love with your mother. But he is such a wise, smart man. He loved my mother so much that he took us all in, four young people. We'd bet on football games, and he was a terrible bettor, so I'd make lots of money."

As for his dad, Tom III, who had recently passed away, "I think that he felt remorse for a lot that had happened. He was a person who did not have a huge influence on me in my teens; the values and motivation really came from my stepfather. But he was important. Really important. It's all sort of complex. There wasn't one thing I felt."

9. He was always a daredevil, jumping off things, riding his bike too fast, sometimes into walls and, here and there, breaking bones. In high school he joined the glee club and did plays. He was also an athlete, over the years dabbling in soccer, baseball, basketball, football and ice hockey, and he wrestled. Sports and acting were where he really stood out and, shocker, the ladies have loved him since grammar school.

"I was a wild kid," Cruise admitted. "I'd cut school. Everything had to do with my wanting always to push the envelope to see: where do I stand with myself? How far can I go?"

10. Cruise has been open about his battle with dyslexia, calling himself "a functional illiterate" in school, though he "loved learning. I wanted to learn, but I knew I had failed in the system."

"My energy was always all over the place. Reading was not at the top of my list, because it took me so long," he told Cameron Crowe for Interview in 1986. "When I wrote a paper, my mother would help me with it. I would take a test and get very nervous. I would skip questions and skip lines. I've gotten better. I've learned to control my eyes. I used to have to use my finger all the time. I just wasn't relaxed about it."

11. Senior year of high school he got kicked off the football team after he was caught drinking, according to Morton, but that left him time to audition for the school musical, Guys and Dolls . He played Nathan Detroit, and a commercial director who happened to catch a performance told him he should pursue acting professionally. So, he started going to New York on weekends to audition for musicals—and he missed his graduation ceremony while performing in an amateur production of Godspell .

12. Cruise made his movie debut in the 1981 drama Taps , in a role that was bigger than the one he was originally cast in "because you could see right away that he had a giant talent," former Paramount head Sherry Lansing said in Stephen Galloway 's 2017 biography Leading Lady . "He was always extremely focused and exceptionally polite."

13. On the set of Francis Ford Coppola 's The Outsiders , featuring a veritable who's-who of '80s-era heartthrobs , prankster Cruise scrawled "Helter Skelter" on co-star Diane Lane 's mirror and put honey on her toilet seat.

14. The only direction Cruise received for his iconic Risky Business dance to "Old Time Rock and Roll" was one line in the script: "Joel dances in underwear through the house." He ad-libbed the rest, grabbing the candlestick, "using it as a guitar, jumping on the table. I waxed half the floor and kept the other half dirty, so I could slide in on my socks. As we went along, I threw more stuff in," he shared with Crowe in 1986.

15. Cruise dated his Risky Business co-star Rebecca De Mornay , who called him a "pure person." She told Rolling Stone in 1986, "There's something earnest and virtuous about him that's quite rare." According to Taps co-star Sean Penn , they were out at a club in New York one night and after realizing that a girl he was talking to was trying to pick him up, Cruise "screamed at her, 'I have a girlfriend I'm in love with!'" (Perhaps at the time readers thought Penn might be exaggerating.) He and De Mornay started dating in the summer of 1983 and maintained a long-distance relationship while he shot Ridley Scott 's Legend in London, but broke up when he returned to the U.S. to start making Top Gun .

16. Top Gun producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson envisioned no one other than Cruise playing Maverick after they saw a magazine story about the elite flying school at San Diego's Miramar Naval Air Station and went down to see the hot shots in person. "From the first time we went down to Miramar—even before the script was written—we said, 'These guys are Tom Cruises,'" Bruckheimer told Rolling Stone .

17. Although Cruise also told Rolling Stone in 1986 that he wasn't sure he would be able to get married in his "present state of mind," he tied the knot with  Mimi Rogers on May 9, 1987, two years after meeting her at a dinner party. Emilio Estevez  was Cruise's best man.

18. Paul Newman , his co-star in 1987's The Color of Money , turned him on to race car driving and Cruise has been feeling the need for speed on land and in the air (and sometimes on the water) ever since. Years later the student became the teacher when, in 2010, Cruise taught Zac Efron  about motorcycles. "I don't know," Efron told Details when asked why Cruise offered to do that. "I don't even want to know. It's just so cool that he gave a s--t, the fact that he cared at all."

19. Mimi and her first husband, Jim Rogers , were both members of the Church of Scientology (Jim was a high-level auditor) and she's said to have introduced Cruise to the organization, giving him L. Ron Hubbard 's Dianetics and other literature. His immersion in Scientology coincided with the release of Top Gun and the actor becoming one of the biggest stars in the world, and to this day Cruise remains the most famous member of the church.

20. Despite being critically panned, 1988's Cocktail , starring Cruise as a playboy bartender, gave Disney its biggest opening weekend ever at the time: $11.8 million.

21. According to Morton's 2008 biography  Tom Cruise , director Oliver Stone wanted Tom to be injected with a chemical that would have rendered him temporarily paralyzed so he could better identify with the role of real-life Vietnam War veteran and activist Ron Kovic in 1989's  Born on the Fourth of July . The insurance company understandably shut that idea down. The film still won two Oscars, best editing and best director for Stone, so it worked out.

22. People named Cruise its "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1990. Soon after, he and Rogers divorced. When Vanity Fair  asked about his first marriage in 1994, Cruise replied tersely , "It was a long time ago. I really don't think about it."

23. Cruise met Nicole Kidman  during casting for the racing drama Days of Thunder and they tied the knot on Dec. 24, 1990. They adopted two children, Isabella and Connor , and starred in two more movies together, Far and Away and Eyes Wide Shut .

After Isabella arrived, Cruise told Vanity Fair in 1994 , "We talked about children from time to time, but there was always the work. But then we went, When is it ever going to be the right time? That's how the conversation started. You're lying in bed at night and you're trying to sleep, so you roll over and you go, What would happen if we had this in our life?

"One of the things that Nic and I talk about is that now suddenly we're a family. We're at that point where we're trying to define where we are. Can we still party? Are we really boring? Oh, my God . . . we're old!"

24. Disney had Cruise in mind when they created the look of the title character in 1992's Aladdin . "There's a confidence with all of his attitudes and his poses," lead animator Glen Keane said in a DVD extras feature.

25. An old tabloid go-to back in the 1980s and '90s was to claim that this or that star was gay, and Cruise was aware that the rumor was out there.

"First of all, I don't think it's an indictment," Cruise told Vanity Fair in 1994. "But I hadn't heard those rumors till about three months ago myself… I don't know why they say it. I've heard everything from I've cheated on my wife to my wife was there on the set of  The Firm  because she was pissed off about my love scene on the beach. It's not true, but people are going to say what they want to say."

26. Cruise wanted Brian De Palma to direct Mission: Impossible , which would mark his debut as a producer with his agent turned partner Paula Wagner , even though De Palma was in movie jail following several flops. Cruise even deferred his $20 million salary (not including his back-end deal) so they could raise the movie's budget. Mission accomplished: M:I made almost $500 million worldwide and spawned a franchise . De Palma, however, didn't attend the film's premiere in May 1996, reportedly because he and Cruise didn't always see eye to eye during production.

27. Shooting M:I , Cruise insisted they use a fan big enough to create the 120 mile-per-hour wind he'd be facing if he was really clinging to a bullet train while a helicopter exploded behind him. A crew member told Galloway, "He said, 'I want the wind blowing in my face and I want my jaws to be blowing.' That's Tom. He's a guy's guy."

28. The intense Eyes Wide Shut shoot was scheduled to last four months but ended up keeping Tom and Nicole in London for 18 months. Also during their time in England, as fate would have it, they attended Princess Diana 's funeral in September 1997, as did with Tom Hanks  and Steven Spielberg , who were in town making Saving Private Ryan .

29. "All I can say is that I hope we are together when we are 80," Nicole Kidman told  Talk  in 2000. "I can't say we will be, but I will be so devastated if we are not." Alas, they announced their separation on Feb. 5, 2001. "She knows why, and I know why," Cruise cryptically told Vanity Fair later that year. "She's the mother of my children, and I wish her well. And I think that you just move on. And I don't say that lightly. I don't say that with anything."

30. Penélope Cruz  successfully sued an Australian tabloid in June 2003, winning damages and a retraction over a story claiming she and then-boyfriend Cruise had postponed their impending marriage because she had cheated on him. They broke up in January 2004 after more than two years of dating, a source telling People the relationship "just ran its course."

31. The Church of Scientology denied a 2012 Vanity Fair report that Homeland actress Nazanin Boniadi , then a church member, had basically been recruited to date Cruise for a few months, starting in October 2004 with a group outing that included renting the skating rink at Rockefeller Center and dinner at Nobu. "I'd rather not talk about that," Boniadi told the New York Post in 2013.

32. Cruise specifically held out for J.J. Abrams to direct Mission: Impossible III —Abrams' feature film debut—after watching some episodes of Alias . Paramount was freaking out, wanting M:I3 for a summer 2005 tentpole release, which wasn't going to happen if Cruise and Abrams—busy at the moment with a show called Lost —got their way, but it turned out Cruise had an ace up his sleeve. Spielberg was ready to roll with War of the Worlds in time to give Paramount the summer blockbuster it needed while they waited for Abrams to become available.

33. On May 23, 2005, a giddy Cruise raised his arms in victory, got down on one knee and did a couple of fist pumps, and then jumped up on Oprah Winfrey 's couch (also twice), fueled by love for his new girlfriend, Katie Holmes . "You're gone," the talk show host observed.

"I've got so much energy, I can't help it," Cruise said.

They were both laughing hysterically and the studio audience was cheering, but… maybe you had to be there?

Lest anyone forget, Holmes was at the taping and Winfrey led a chant for her to come out. "She's gonna run!" Cruise exclaimed. "She is freaking out ." Then he took off for backstage to go get her, the camera trailing him, and once they had emerged Cruise enveloped the Dawson's Creek star in a hug.

That moment unwittingly set the tone for Cruise and Holmes' entire relationship, romantic to many but to everyone… just a lot .

34. A month later, Cruise accused Matt Lauer  of being "glib" when the Today host questioned his take on mental health care—specifically, his dismissal of psychiatry and his criticism of Brooke Shields ' "irresponsible" use of medication to treat postpartum depression.

35. Cruise and Holmes' daughter, Suri Cruise , was born on April 18, 2006.

36. Mission: Impossible III came out on May 5, 2006, and did… fine. It was (and remains) the lowest-grossing installment of the franchise, making $134 million domestically, but more memorably it marked the moment where folks started wondering if Cruise had lost his movie-star mojo, if his unadulterated zeal had turned off audiences for good. Not making it better: Paramount severed its 14-year relationship with Cruise's production company that August, and then-Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone actually told the Wall Street Journal , "We don't think that someone who effectuates creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot. His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount."

37. Suri was introduced to the world on the September 2006 cover of Vanity Fair , zipped up in her father's leather jacket akin to how Paul McCartney   snuggled daughter Mary on the cover of his 1970 solo album McCartney . The first glimpse at the cover was a huge get for Katie Couric 's first night as lead anchor of the CBS Evening News .

38. Cruise and Holmes' wedding at the 15th-century Castello Orsini-Odescalchi in Rome on Nov. 18, 2016, reportedly cost upward of $3 million . Guest Giorgio Armani designed the bride's ceremony and reception dresses and attendees included Will Smith  and Jada Pinkett Smith , John Travolta  and Kelly Preston , David  and Victoria Beckham , Jim Carrey  and Jenny McCarthy , Leah Remini  and Angelo Pagan , and Jennifer Lopez  and Marc Anthony . Andrea Bocelli performed.

39. Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige was Cruise's best man. According to Remini, who left the church in 2013, a traditional Scientology wedding ceremony includes the vow "to never close their eyes in sleep on a disagreement or an upset."

40. Shields and husband Chris Henchy were also in attendance, Cruise having apologized for publicly disparaging his Endless Love co-star's use of medication to treat postpartum depression. "If you get invited to that wedding, you go," Shields recalled on The Jenny McCarthy Show in 2016. The actress even provided the bride's "something old": an antique enamel compact.

41. 2010's Knight and Day with Cameron Diaz  was widely treated as some sort of "comeback" movie for Cruise, a test to see if he could still have a monster action movie hit after Mission: Impossible III underwhelmed.

"I don't understand why people think that," he marveled to the U.K.'s Telegraph . "I've been working the whole time."

42. His roles in the interim had included his unrecognizable—and hilarious—surprise turn as crass, bullying, bald and fat studio exec Les Grossman in Ben Stiller 's Tropic Thunder , for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination.

"I had about a dozen people making the silicone prosthetics for his head, neck, chest, and hands," makeup designer Barney Burman recalled to Grantland . "We made him special gloves. I did the sculpting, someone else did the molds, someone else was casting them. I had six different people punching hairs into the scalp piece, so his entire head was one-at-a-time, hand-punched hairs; his arms were hand-punched one at a time; his chest was hand-punched."

Added Aida Caefer , "I made the fat suits for Tom Cruise. He was all for  the more ridiculous, the better . The suit went from his neck all the way down to his ankles…The character moved around a lot and he was so soaked in sweat that we had rotating suits for him—one in the morning and one after lunch."

"Tom choreographed all his own moves," Stiller said. "I remember watching him do this stuff and thinking this is so frigging funny."

43. The rumor that Cruise turned down the role of Iron Man, which would have changed the whole vibe of the Marvel Universe, is not true, he says. "Not close," he told ComicBook.com in 2018 when asked if he was really almost Tony Stark. "Not close, and I love Robert Downey Jr. I can't imagine anyone else in that role, and I think it's perfect for him."

44. For 2011's Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol , Cruise hung off the edge of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai—the world's tallest building—without a double (though with the appropriate wires). And while he'd been doing as much of his own physical laboring as possible for decades, this reinvigorated Cruise's reputation as the guy who does all the death-defying stunts the insurance companies will allow. The film's $695 million worldwide box office also signaled that Cruise's reputation had preceded him—in a good way.

45. Holmes filed for divorce in June 2012. Her father, attorney Martin Holmes , had helped draft their prenuptial agreement and all was remarkably settled within weeks. And neither of them have ever talked about what happened . They've acknowledged that they were once married to each other, but why it ended has remained anyone's guess. And, oh, how the people have guessed.

46. Eyebrows were raised when the 5-foot-7 Cruise was tapped to play 6-foot-5 vigilante Jack Reacher from Lee Childs ' best-selling novel series.

"Size in my books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force," Childs explained. "Cruise portrays that in his own way."

47. Not as initially OK with the creative license was Interview With the Vampire   author Ann Rice , who according to Vanity Fair was livid in the early '90s when Cruise was cast to play Lestat, having written the character with Rutger Hauer in mind.

"It always helps if one is controversial in casting a movie," director Neil Jordan said. "I just thought that if Tom was willing to go the distance this character demands—and he was—then we could end up with something quite extraordinary, and we did."

48. Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation was legendary before it hit theaters in 2015 for Cruise's viral airplane stunt, in which he hung onto the door of an Airbus A400M as it took off. For real. He also did his own motorcycle chase and learned how to hold his breath for six and a half minutes for the underwater document swap.

49. He was back on the bike for Mission: Impossible—Fallout and "when the [safety] rigs didn't work, we just went for it," director Christopher McQuarrie told the New York Times . "Everything that you're seeing Tom doing, he's doing free riding on cold cobblestones. Sometimes there was rain; sometimes there was morning dew. There was always a danger of skidding and wiping out."

Cruise also did his own skydiving along with Henry Cavill 's stunt double, dangled from a rope attached to a flying helicopter, and piloted a helicopter for a mid-air chase scene, getting his certification in six weeks. It normally takes three months, McQuarrie said, but Cruise trained for 16 hours a day to cut the time in half.

"Tom was having the time of his life," the director said.

50. Cruise has social media accounts but they are strictly for un-risky business, and he prefers to not know everything that's happening online. "Sometimes I have to for work, but I keep it very limited," he told E! News in 2016. "I don't spend time doing that kind of stuff."

51. Cruise isn't one to let himself go in between physically taxing roles. "Sea-kayaking, caving, fencing, treadmill, weights, rock-climbing, hiking… I jog… I do so many different activities," he has said.

In fact, he refers to his personal workout space—a version of which he takes with him everywhere—as the "Pain Cave."

"Only the motivated can enter," he explained to the AP at the 2017 premiere of The Mummy . "All you got to do is just be motivated. Anyone can come in, we have the crew come in, and we just make it available to everyone."

As co-star Jake Johnson   revealed: "You start every morning with the daily challenge. So before work starts, you're in there. His hair and makeup team is in there, his crew is in there, so there's about 15, 20 people every day doing their squats and jumping jacks. And then I kinda got into it with him…I wanted to be in a Tom Cruise movie and do it the Tom Cruise way."

That includes, alas, avoiding sugar.

"I love sugar," Cruise assured James Corden  on The Late Late Show in 2018, "but I can't eat it because when I'm training, I'm doing all these movies—so I send it to everyone." And then, "I wait for the calls. Like, 'tell me about it.'"

52. Don't tell anyone, but Cruise is human: Aside from what he did to himself running around in childhood, he threw out his back making Legend ; developed an ulcer while shooting Eyes Wide Shut ; tore his labrum scaling a cliff at Dead Horse Point, Utah, for Mission: Impossible 2 ; and broke an ankle on Mission: Impossible—Fallout .

"It was the easy one where I'm running and I jump from one building to the next," Cruise later described the fateful stunt on  The Tonight Show .

53. But this guy commits . In addition to doing three months of helicopter pilot training in six weeks and learning how to hold his breath like he's David Blaine , he played pool for 12 hours a day to play Fast Eddie Felson's protegee in The Color of Money. He lost 18 pounds and read classic books out loud to work on his diction to play centuries-old Lestat in Interview With the Vampire. He learned German to better embody a World War II-era officer in Valkyrie . He actually spent a year and a half learning how to fly a helicopter for  Mission: Impossible—Fallout  (before his whirlwind certification).

54. "I haven't seen him in awhile, but he has sent me a birthday gift every year since I was 11 years old," Dakota Fanning  said on Watch What Happens Live in 2016 about her dad in 2005's War of the Worlds . "Beautiful gifts, it's really kind. I always think, 'Oh, when I'm 18, he'll probably stop. Oh, 21, he'll stop. But every year."

What does Team Cruise pick out? "It's usually shoes," the actress, then 22, shared.

55. In 1986, he told Cameron Crowe , "Let's face it, I'm not saving lives here. I feel fortunate, but this is just one aspect of my life. I love my work, but my family is very important to me, too. You pick up the paper and see that there are many things happening outside my little world."

Since then, the real-life heroics include, all within a few years in the '90s: He lifted two boys over a barricade to prevent them being crushed at the Mission: Impossible premiere in London; he sent his own yacht's skiff to rescue a family whose sailboat was on fire in the Mediterranean in 1996; he rushed to the aid of a woman who had been mugged in London; and he paid the $7,000 emergency room bill for an uninsured cashier who was injured in a hit and run—an accident Cruise witnessed.

"It's just an impulse," Cruise told People in 2000 about his spate of good deeds. "I was never a Boy Scout, so maybe I'm making up for it now."

Or, as he said in the video of an interview for his church that went viral in 2008, "You can't drive past an accident, because as a Scientologist you are the only one who can help"

56. Though he's the most famous face of Scientology, Cruise is incredibly protective of his beliefs and doesn't say too much about it publicly. But in October 2016, he told ITV at the London premiere of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back , "It's something that has helped me incredibly in my life. I've been a Scientologist for over 30 years. It's something that is, you know...without it, I wouldn't be where I am. So, it's a beautiful religion. I'm incredibly proud."

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Everything’s bigger in texas: san antonio attorney blows millions on epic super bowl weekend.

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High-rolling Texas attorney Thomas J.Henry lavished an estimated $3 million on flying friends and staffers out to the Super Bowl .

The personal injury lawyer — known for throwing extravagant parties with big name performers — hired two private jets for pals to get to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII for pals and treated them to a $3,000-a-night stay at the Four Seasons hotel.

Henry, 59, then laid on a lavish spread in a $2.5 million suite at Allegiant stadium as guests watched the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers Sunday 25-22.

A butler brought out platters of sushi, wagyu tenderloin, chicken and waffles, oversized shrimp cocktail and crab fried rice.

Security was super tight — especially with Taylor Swift just a few boxes away — and suite guests had to go through two levels of security.

But once there, they were just seats away from Lady Gaga and Beyoncé , who revealed the launch of her new country album Super Bowl Sunday.

The suite was the culmination of a huge weekend: Henry also bought out tables at nightclub LIV at the Fontainebleu Hotel and XS at the Wynn, sources told Page Six.

This is all nothing new for Henry, who has represented the victims of Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert. 

back in 2018 he celebrated his firm’s 25th anniversary with a $10 million party featuring performances from Maroon 5 and Enrique Iglesias.

That same year he threw himself a $4.5 million 65th birthday bash in Miami with CardiB and DJ Khaled – and Tekashi 6ix9ine performed for just 90 guests in a private room at 1Oak in Manhattan for his ex wife.

We also told how Nick Jonas and Pitbull performed at his daughter Maya’s $6 million quinceañera.

Henry – a 49ers fan, for the record – was joined by his son Thomas and girlfriend Evelin Crossland in the box.

“The Super Bowl is a fantastic experience all around. From the game to the halftime show to the crowd, I can’t think of any other event that matches the energy of the Super Bowl’s energy – especially for the first time in Las Vegas,” he told Page Six.

“The weekend is made even better by the fact that I am able to share it with some of my firm’s most dedicated attorneys who do so much for our clients and their families.”

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