title: Tom Cruise

text: In total, Cruise attended 15 schools in 14 years. Cruise spent part of his childhood in Canada; when his father took a job as a defense consultant with the Canadian Armed Forces, his family moved in late 1971 to Beacon Hill, Ottawa. He attended the new Robert Hopkins Public School for his fourth and fifth grade education. He first became involved in drama in fourth grade, under drama teacher George Steinburg. He and six other boys put on an improvised play to music called "IT" at the Carleton Elementary School drama festival. Drama organizer Val Wright was in the audience and later said that "the movement and improvisation were excellent ... a classic ensemble piece." In sixth grade, Cruise went to Henry Munro Middle School in Ottawa. That year, his mother left his father, taking Cruise and his sisters back to the United States. In 1978, she married Jack South. Cruise's biological father died of cancer in 1984. Cruise briefly took a Catholic Church scholarship and attended the St. Francis Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio; he aspired to become a Franciscan priest before being expelled from the seminary for drinking. This led to his becoming interested in acting. In his senior year of high school, he played football for the varsity team as a linebacker, but was cut from the squad after getting caught drinking beer before a game. He went on to star in the school's production of "Guys and Dolls". In 1980, he graduated from Glen Ridge High School in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.


title: Tom Cruise

text: At age 18, with the blessing of his mother and stepfather, Cruise moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. After working as a busboy in New York, he went to Los Angeles to try out for television roles. He signed with CAA and began acting in films. He first appeared in a bit part in the 1981 film "Endless Love", followed by a major supporting role as a crazed military academy student in "Taps" later that year. In 1983, Cruise was part of the ensemble cast of "The Outsiders". That same year he appeared in "All the Right Moves" and "Risky Business", which has been described as "A Generation X classic, and a career maker for Tom Cruise." He also played the male lead in the Ridley Scott film "Legend", released in 1985. By 1986's "Top Gun", his status as a superstar had been cemented.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise followed up "Top Gun" with Martin Scorsese's "The Color of Money" (1986), which came out the same year, and which paired him with Paul Newman. Their chemistry won praise among critics with "The Washington Post" writing, "One of the subtle achievements of both Cruise's and Newman's performances is that you feel that both of them are genuinely top-notch pool hustlers". In 1988, Cruise starred in "Cocktail", a film that was a box office success but failed with critics. His performance earned him a nomination for the Razzie Award for Worst Actor. Later that year he starred with Dustin Hoffman in Barry Levinson's "Rain Man", which won the Academy Award for Best Film and Cruise the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In 1989, Cruise portrayed real-life paralyzed Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone's war epic "Born on the Fourth of July". Film critic Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" wrote, "Nothing Cruise has done will prepare you for what he does in "Born on the Fourth of July" ... His performance is so good that the movie lives through it. Stone is able to make his statement with Cruise's face and voice and doesn't need to put everything into the dialogue." The performance earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actor, a nomination for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Cruise's first Best Actor Academy Award nomination.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise's next films were "Days of Thunder" (1990) and "Far and Away" (1992), both of which co-starred then-wife Nicole Kidman as his love interest, followed by the legal thriller "The Firm", which was a critical and commercial success. In 1994, Cruise starred along with Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas and Christian Slater in Neil Jordan's "Interview with the Vampire", a gothic drama/horror film that was based on Anne Rice's best-selling novel. The film was well-received, although Rice was initially quite outspoken in her criticism of Cruise having been cast in the film, as Julian Sands was her first choice. Upon seeing the film, however, she paid $7,740 for a two-page ad in "Daily Variety" praising his performance and apologizing for her previous doubts about him.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In 1996, Cruise appeared as superspy Ethan Hunt in the reboot of "", which he produced. The film was directed by Brian De Palma and was a box office success, although it received criticism regarding the Jim Phelps character being a villain despite being a protagonist of the original television series. Film critic Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" praised Cruise's performance, declaring "Tom Cruise has found the perfect superhero character on which to graft his breathlessly gung-ho screen personality." In the same year, Cruise took on the title role in Cameron Crowe's sports drama "Jerry Maguire" playing a sports agent in search of love. He stars opposite Renee Zellweger, and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film was a massive financial success with Cruise earning a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and his second nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In 1999, Cruise costarred with Kidman in Stanley Kubrick's erotic and psychological drama film "Eyes Wide Shut". Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" praised both Cruise and Kidman on their performances writing, "Cruise in particular lays himself open in that fiercely committed way that he tries everything as an actor". That same year he took a rare supporting role, as a motivational speaker, Frank T.J. Mackey, in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia" (1999). "Rolling Stone" film critic Peter Travers heaped praise on Cruise writing, "Cruise is a revelation, fully deserving of the shower of superlatives coming his way ... Cruise seethes with the chaotic energy of a wounded animal – he's devastating." For his performance he received another Golden Globe and nomination for an Academy Award.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In 2000, Cruise returned as Ethan Hunt in the second installment of the "Mission Impossible" films, "". The film was helmed by Hong Kong director John Woo and branded with his gun fu style; it continued the series' success at the box office, taking in $547 million worldwide. Like its predecessor, it was the highest-grossing film of the year and had a mixed critical reception. Cruise received an MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance for the film.


title: Tom Cruise

text: His next five films were major critical and commercial successes. The following year, Cruise starred in the romantic thriller "Vanilla Sky" (2001) with Cameron Diaz and Penélope Cruz. In 2002, Cruise starred in the dystopian science fiction action film "Minority Report", which was directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In 2003, he starred in Edward Zwick's period action drama "The Last Samurai", for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for best actor. In 2004, Cruise received critical acclaim for his performance as Vincent in "Collateral". The critical consensus states that "Driven by director Michael Mann's trademark visuals and a lean, villainous performance from Tom Cruise, "Collateral" is a stylish and compelling noir thriller." In 2005, Cruise worked again with Steven Spielberg in "War of the Worlds", a loose adaptation of the H. G. Wells novel of the same name, which became the fourth highest-grossing film of the year with US$591.4 million worldwide. Also in 2005, he was a nominee for the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie Star and the winner of the MTV Generation Award. Cruise was nominated for seven Saturn Awards between 2002 and 2009, winning once. Nine of the ten films he starred in during the decade made over $100 million at the box office.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In 2006, he returned to his role as Ethan Hunt in the third installment of the "Mission Impossible" film series, "". The film was more positively received by critics than the previous films in the series, and grossed nearly $400 million at the box office. In 2007, Cruise took a rare supporting role for the second time in "Lions for Lambs", which was a commercial disappointment. This was followed by an unrecognizable appearance as "Les Grossman" in the 2008 comedy "Tropic Thunder" with Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. This performance earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. Cruise played the central role in the historical thriller "Valkyrie" released on December 25, 2008, to box office success.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In March 2010, Cruise completed filming the action-comedy "Knight and Day", in which he re-teamed with former costar Cameron Diaz; the film was released on June 23, 2010. On February 9, 2010, Cruise confirmed that he would star in "", the fourth installment in the "" series. The film was released in December 2011 to high critical acclaim and box office success. Unadjusted for ticket price inflation, it was Cruise's biggest commercial success to that date.


title: Tom Cruise

text: On May 6, 2011, Cruise was awarded a humanitarian award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance for his work as a dedicated philanthropist. In mid-2011, Cruise started shooting the movie "Rock of Ages" (2012), in which he played the fictional character Stacee Jaxx. The film was released in June 2012 and was a rare box-office misstep for Cruise. Cruise however received positive reviews for his performance with "Variety" film critic Justin Chang writing, "Channeling the likes of Axl Rose and Keith Richards with his tattoos, heavy furs and even heavier eyeshadow, Cruise clearly relishes the opportunity to play against type even as he sends up his world's-biggest-movie-star identity, displaying a cock-of-the-rock strut that viewers haven't seen since his turn in "Magnolia"."


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise starred as Jack Reacher in the film adaptation of British author Lee Child's 2005 novel "One Shot". The film was released on December 21, 2012. It met with positive reviews from critics and was a box office success grossing $217 million worldwide. In 2013, he starred in the science fiction film "Oblivion" based on director Joseph Kosinski's graphic novel of the same name. The film met with mixed reviews and grossed $286 million worldwide. It also starred Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko. In 2014, Cruise starred in the science fiction-action film "Edge of Tomorrow", which received positive reviews and grossed over $370 million.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In 2015, Cruise returned as Ethan Hunt in the fifth installment of the "Mission: Impossible" series, "", which he also produced. Returning cast members included Simon Pegg as Benji and Jeremy Renner as William Brandt, with Christopher McQuarrie as director. The film earned high critical acclaim and was a commercial success. Cruise starred in the 2017 reboot of Boris Karloff's 1932 horror movie "The Mummy". The new film, also titled "The Mummy" received negative reviews and flopped at the box office. In 2018, Cruise again reprised Ethan Hunt, in the sixth film in his franchise, "". The film was more positively received by critics than the previous films in the series, and grossed over $791 million at the box office. Unadjusted for ticket price inflation, it was Cruise's biggest commercial success to date.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In May 2020, it was reported that Cruise would be starring and producing a movie shot in outer space. Doug Liman would be directing, writing, and co-producing. Both will fly to the International Space Station as part of a future Axiom Space mission in a SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In May 2021, Cruise protested against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) by returning all three of his Golden Globe Awards in light of controversy surrounding the HFPA, particularly its lack of diversity, specifically no black members, and ethical questions related to financial benefits to some of its members.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In 2022, Cruise reprised his role as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in "", a film which he also executive produced. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival where Cruise earned an Honorary Palme d'Or. The film was released to widespread critical praise, with many reviewers deeming it superior to its predecessor. The film has broken several box office records upon its release; earning over $1 billion, becoming the highest-grossing film of his career. Cruise will earn $100 million for the film, when combining ticket sales, his salary, and his cut of home entertainment rentals and streaming revenues.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise partnered with his former talent agent Paula Wagner to form Cruise/Wagner Productions in 1993, and the company has since co-produced several of Cruise's films, the first being "" in 1996 which was also Cruise's first project as a producer.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise is noted as having negotiated some of the most lucrative film deals in Hollywood, and was described in 2005 by Hollywood economist Edward Jay Epstein as "one of the most powerful – and richest – forces in Hollywood." Epstein argues that Cruise is one of the few producers (the others being George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer) who are regarded as able to guarantee the success of a billion-dollar film franchise. Epstein also contends that the public obsession with Cruise's tabloid controversies obscures full appreciation of Cruise's exceptional commercial prowess.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise/Wagner Productions, Cruise's film production company, is said to be developing a screenplay based on Erik Larson's "New York Times" bestseller "The Devil in the White City" about a real-life serial killer, H. H. Holmes, at Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition. Kathryn Bigelow is attached to the project to produce and helm. Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way, is also developing a film about Holmes and the World's Fair, in which DiCaprio will star.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise has produced several films in which he appeared. He produced "", "Without Limits", "", "The Others", "Vanilla Sky" and many others.


title: Tom Cruise

text: On August 22, 2006, Paramount Pictures announced it was ending its 14-year relationship with Cruise. In "The Wall Street Journal", chairman of Viacom (Paramount's parent company) Sumner Redstone cited the economic damage to Cruise's value as an actor and producer from his controversial public behavior and views. Cruise/Wagner Productions responded that Paramount's announcement was a face-saving move after the production company had successfully sought alternative financing from private equity firms.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Industry analysts such as Edward Jay Epstein commented that the real reason for the split was most likely Paramount's discontent over Cruise/Wagner's exceptionally large share of DVD sales from the "Mission: Impossible" franchise.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In November 2006, Cruise and Paula Wagner announced that they had taken over the film studio United Artists. Cruise acts as a producer and star in films for United Artists, while Wagner serves as UA's chief executive.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Production began in 2007 of "Valkyrie", a thriller based on the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler. The film was acquired in March 2007 by United Artists. On March 21, 2007, Cruise signed to play Claus von Stauffenberg, the protagonist. This project marked the second production to be greenlighted since Cruise and Wagner took control of United Artists. The first was its inaugural film, "Lions for Lambs", directed by Robert Redford and starring Redford, Meryl Streep and Cruise. "Lambs" was released on November 9, 2007, opening to unimpressive box office revenue and critical reception.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In August 2008, Wagner stepped down from her position at United Artists; she retains her stake in UA, which combined with Cruise's share amounts to 30 percent of the studio.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise splits his time between homes in Beverly Hills, California; Clearwater, Florida; and the South of England where Cruise has lived in various places including Central London, Dulwich, East Grinstead, and Biggin Hill.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In the early-to-mid-1980s, Cruise had relationships with Melissa Gilbert, Rebecca De Mornay, Patti Scialfa, and Cher.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers on May 9, 1987. They divorced on February 4, 1990. Rogers had grown up in Scientology and was one of its 'auditors'; they met when Cruise became one of her clients. After she left the organization, she blamed its leader, David Miscavige, for the break-up of their marriage.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise met his second wife, actress Nicole Kidman, on the set of their film "Days of Thunder" (1990). The couple married on December 24, 1990. They adopted two children: Isabella Jane (born 1992) and Connor Antony (born 1995). In February 2001, Cruise filed for divorce from Kidman while she was unknowingly pregnant. The pregnancy seemingly ended in a miscarriage, but in 2007, Kidman clarified the rumors by explaining that she had actually had an ectopic pregnancy.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise was next romantically linked with Penélope Cruz, his co-star in "Vanilla Sky" (2001). Their three-year relationship ended in 2004. An article in the October 2012 issue of "Vanity Fair" stated that several sources have said that after the breakup with Cruz, Scientologist leaders launched a secret project to find Cruise a new girlfriend. According to those sources, a series of "auditions" of Scientologist actresses resulted in a short-lived relationship with British-Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi, who subsequently left Scientology. Scientology and Cruise's lawyers issued strongly worded denials and threatened to sue, accusing "Vanity Fair" of "shoddy journalism" and "religious bigotry". Journalist Roger Friedman later reported that he received an email from director and ex-Scientologist Paul Haggis confirming the story.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In April 2005, Cruise began dating actress Katie Holmes. On April 27 that year, Cruise and Holmes—dubbed "TomKat" by the media—made their first public appearance together in Rome. A month later, Cruise publicly declared his love for Holmes on "The Oprah Winfrey Show"; he jumped on Winfrey's yellow couch and stood there. Media coverage at the time implied that Oprah was somewhat taken aback by Cruise's outburst, which distracted from the intended promotion of Cruise's current film, "War of the Worlds". On October 6, 2005, Cruise and Holmes announced they were expecting a child. In April 2006, their daughter Suri was born. On November 18, Holmes and Cruise were married at the 15th-century Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, in a Scientologist ceremony attended by many Hollywood stars. Their publicists said the couple had "officialized" their marriage in Los Angeles the day before the Italian ceremony. There has been widespread speculation that their marriage was arranged by the Church of Scientology. David Miscavige, the head of Scientology, served as Cruise's best man. On June 29, 2012, Holmes filed for divorce from Cruise. On July 9, the couple signed a divorce settlement worked out by their lawyers. New York law requires all divorce documents remain sealed, so the exact terms of the settlement are not publicly available. Cruise stated that ex-wife Katie Holmes divorced him in part to protect the couple's daughter Suri from Scientology and that Suri is no longer a practicing member of the organization.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise was converted to Scientology by his first wife Mimi Rogers in 1986, becoming an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology in the 2000s. His involvement in the organization was leaked by the tabloid "Star" in 1990, and he publicly admitted to following Scientology in a 1992 interview with Barbara Walters. According to the book "Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion" by Janet Reitman, seven years after Cruise started studying Scientology, the organization's leaders promised to share Scientology secrets, such as the prophet Xenu. According to Reitman's book, Cruise "freaked out" and took a step back. He removed himself from the Church and worked on the film "Eyes Wide Shut" until 1999 when David Miscavige sent Marty Rathbun to successfully "retrieve" Cruise and convince him to continue training. Cruise had become a full-on zealot after a couple of years. Cruise is friends with the Scientology organization's chairman David Miscavige. Cruise struggled with dyslexia at an early age and has said that Scientology, specifically the L. Ron Hubbard Study Tech, helped him overcome dyslexia.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In addition to promoting various programs that introduce people to Scientology, Cruise has campaigned for Scientology to be afforded the status of a religion in Europe. In 2005, the Council of Paris revealed that Cruise had lobbied French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and Senate President Jean-Claude Gaudin. They described him as a militant spokesman for Scientology, and barred any further dealings with him. He lobbied British Prime Minister Tony Blair to recognize the Scientology organization as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization in the United Kingdom. In the United States, he convinced Bush administration officials Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Scooter Libby to oppose the non-recognition of Scientology in Germany in 2003. In 2004, he met Secretary of Education Rod Paige about endorsing Scientologist education methods as part of No Child Left Behind.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise co-founded and raised donations for Downtown Medical to offer New York City 9/11 rescue workers detoxification therapy based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard. This drew criticism from medical professionals and firefighters. For such activities, Scientology leader David Miscavige created the Scientology Freedom Medal of Valor and awarded it to Cruise in late 2004. Former Scientologist Paul Haggis also claimed that Cruise attempted to convert celebrities such as James Packer, Victoria and David Beckham, Jada Pinkett and Will Smith, and Steven Spielberg to Scientology.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In January 2004, Cruise made the controversial statement: "I think psychiatry should be outlawed." Further controversy ensued in 2005, when he criticized actress Brooke Shields for using the drug Paxil (paroxetine), an antidepressant which she used to recover from postpartum depression after the birth of her first daughter in 2003. Cruise asserted that there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance and that psychiatry is a form of pseudoscience. In response, Shields argued that Cruise "should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them." This led to a heated argument between Cruise and Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today" on June 24, 2005.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Medical authorities view Cruise's comments as furthering the social stigma of mental illness. From The Lancet, "He may be right that psychotropic drugs are overused, sometimes misused; and that lifestyle changes (and exercise for depression) can be helpful. But he is wrong, as a celebrity, to add to the burden of those with a mental illness, who often fear seeking or continuing treatment because of the stigma still attached to their condition." Shields called Cruise's comments "a disservice to mothers everywhere." In late August 2006, Cruise apologized in person to Shields for his comments.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Scientology is well known for its opposition to mainstream psychiatry and psychoactive drugs that are routinely prescribed for treatment. It was reported that Cruise's anti-psychiatry actions led to a rift with director Steven Spielberg. Spielberg had reportedly mentioned in Cruise's presence the name of a doctor friend who prescribed psychiatric medication. Shortly thereafter, the doctor's office was picketed by Scientologists, reportedly angering Spielberg.


title: Tom Cruise

text: On January 15, 2008, a video produced by the Church of Scientology featuring an interview with Cruise was posted on YouTube by the Anonymous-linked group Project Chanology, showing Cruise discussing what being a Scientologist means to him. The Church of Scientology said the video had been "pirated and edited", and was taken from a three-hour video produced for members of Scientology. YouTube removed the Cruise video from their site under threat of litigation.


title: Tom Cruise

text: After YouTube investigated this claim, they found that the video did not breach copyright law, as it is covered by the fair use clause. It was subsequently reinstated on the site, and as of June 2020, the video has achieved over 15 million views. YouTube has declined to remove it again, due to the popularity of the video, and subsequent changes to copyright policy of the website.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In March 2004, his publicist of 14 years, Pat Kingsley, resigned. Cruise's next publicist was Lee Anne DeVette, his sister, who was herself a Scientologist. She served in that role until November 2005. DeVette was replaced with Paul Bloch from the publicity firm Rogers and Cowan. Such restructuring was seen as a move to curtail publicity of his views on Scientology, as well as the controversy surrounding his relationship with Katie Holmes.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Lawrence Wright's 2013 book "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief" and Alex Gibney's 2015 television documentary adaptation of the same name cast a spotlight on Cruise's role in Scientology. The book and the film both allege that the Scientology organization groomed romantic partners for Cruise and that Cruise used Sea Org and Rehabilitation Project Force workers as a source of free labor. In the film, Cruise's former auditor Marty Rathbun claims that wife Nicole Kidman was wiretapped on Cruise's suggestion, which Cruise's lawyer denies. Cruise's ex-girlfriend Nazanin Boniadi later compared the Scientology organization's auditioning of women to date Cruise and experiences with him to "white slavery."


title: Tom Cruise

text: In 2006, "Premiere" ranked Cruise as Hollywood's most powerful actor, as Cruise came in at number 13 on the magazine's 2006 Power List, being the highest ranked actor. The same year, "Forbes" magazine ranked him as the world's most powerful celebrity. The founder of CinemaScore in 2016 cited Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio as the "two stars, it doesn't matter how bad the film is, they can pull [the box office] up."


title: Tom Cruise

text: October 10, 2006, was declared "Tom Cruise Day" in Japan; the Japan Memorial Day Association said that he was awarded with a special day because of "his love for and close association with Japan."


title: Tom Cruise

text: While reviewing "Days of Thunder", film critic Roger Ebert noted the similarities between several of Cruise's 1980s films and nicknamed the formula the "Tom Cruise Picture". Ebert listed nine key ingredients that make up the Tom Cruise Picture: the Cruise character, the mentor, the superior woman, the craft he must hone, the arena it takes place in, the arcana or knowledge he must learn, the trail or journey, the proto enemy, and the eventual enemy of the character. Some of Cruise's later films like "A Few Good Men" and "The Last Samurai" can also be considered to be part of this formula.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise is an aerobatic pilot, and was inducted as part of the Living Legends of Aviation in 2010, receiving the Aviation Inspiration and Patriotism Award from the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy. In addition to other aircraft, Cruise owns a P-51 Mustang.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In 1998, Cruise successfully sued the "Daily Express", a British tabloid which alleged that his marriage to Kidman was a sham designed to cover up his homosexuality.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In May 2001, Cruise filed a lawsuit against gay porn actor Chad Slater. Slater had told the celebrity magazine "Actustar" that he had been involved in an affair with Cruise. This claim was strongly denied by Cruise, and Slater was later ordered to pay $10 million to Cruise in damages after Slater declared he could not afford to defend himself against the suit and would therefore default. Cruise requested a default judgment and, in January 2003, a Los Angeles judge decided against Slater after the porn actor said that his story was false.


title: Tom Cruise

text: Cruise also sued "Bold Magazine" publisher Michael Davis for $100 million, because Davis had alleged (though never confirmed) that he had video that would prove Cruise was gay. The suit was dropped in exchange for a public statement by Davis that the video was not of Cruise, and that Cruise was heterosexual.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In 2006, Cruise sued cybersquatter Jeff Burgar to obtain control of the TomCruise.com domain name. When owned by Burgar, the domain redirected to information about Cruise on Celebrity1000.com. The decision to turn TomCruise.com over to Cruise was handed down by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on July 5, 2006.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In 2009, Michael Davis Sapir filed a suit charging that his phone had been wiretapped at Cruise's behest. That suit was dismissed by a Central Civil West court judge in Los Angeles on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired on Sapir's claim.


title: Tom Cruise

text: In October 2012, Cruise filed a lawsuit against "In Touch" and "Life & Style" magazines for defamation after they claimed Cruise had "abandoned" his six-year-old daughter. During deposition, Cruise testified that due to his work load 110 days had passed without his seeing her. The suit was ultimately settled between the two parties.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Spider-Man: No Way Home is a 2021 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, co-produced by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the sequel to "" (2017) and "" (2019), and the 27th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Jon Watts and written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. It stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man alongside Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire. In the film, Parker asks Dr. Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) to use magic to make his identity as Spider-Man a secret again following its public revelation at the end of "Far From Home". When the spell goes wrong because of Parker's actions, the multiverse is broken open, which allows visitors from alternate realities to enter Parker's universe.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: A third MCU Spider-Man film was planned during the production of "Homecoming" in 2017. Negotiations between Sony and Marvel Studios to alter their deal—in which they produce the Spider-Man films together—ended with Marvel Studios leaving the project in August 2019, but a negative fan reaction led to a new deal between the companies a month later. Watts, McKenna, Sommers, and Holland were set to return, and filming took place from October 2020 to March 2021 in New York City and Atlanta. "No Way Home" features several actors reprising their roles from non-MCU "Spider-Man" films directed by Sam Raimi and Marc Webb, including previous Spider-Man actors Maguire and Garfield. The involvement of both actors was the subject of wide speculation and numerous leaks despite the efforts of Sony, Marvel, and the cast to conceal their involvement.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: "Spider-Man: No Way Home" premiered at the Fox Village Theatre in Los Angeles on December 13, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 17, as part of of the MCU. It received praise from critics for its story, direction, action sequences, emotional weight, the performances of Holland, Maguire, Garfield, Dafoe, and Molina, and the cast's chemistry. The film grossed $1.916 billion worldwide, surpassing its predecessor as the highest-grossing film released by Sony Pictures. It became the highest-grossing film of 2021, the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time, the highest grossing Spider-Man film, and set several other box office records, including those for films released during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 94th Academy Awards, among . An extended version of the film, subtitled "The More Fun Stuff Version", was theatrically released globally in September 2022, while a sequel is in development.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: After Quentin Beck frames Peter Parker for his murder and reveals Parker's identity as Spider-Man, Parker, his girlfriend Michelle "MJ" Jones-Watson, best friend Ned Leeds, and aunt May are interrogated by the Department of Damage Control. Lawyer Matt Murdock gets Parker's charges dropped, but the group grapples with negative publicity. After Parker, MJ, and Ned's MIT applications are rejected, Parker goes to the New York Sanctum to ask Stephen Strange for help. Strange casts a spell that would make everyone forget Parker is Spider-Man, but it is corrupted when Parker repeatedly requests alterations to let his loved ones retain their memories, ultimately causing Strange to contain the spell to stop it.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Under Strange's suggestion, Parker tries to convince an MIT administrator to reconsider the applications of both MJ and Ned but is attacked by Otto Octavius. Octavius rips Parker's nanotechnology from his Iron Spider suit, which bonds with his mechanical tentacles and allows Parker to disable them. As Norman Osborn arrives and attacks, Strange teleports Parker back to the Sanctum and locks Octavius in a cell next to Curt Connors. Strange explains that before he could contain the corrupted spell, it summoned people from other universes within the multiverse who know Spider-Man's identity. He orders Parker, MJ, and Ned to find and capture them; they locate and retrieve Max Dillon and Flint Marko.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Osborn reclaims control of himself from his split Green Goblin personality and destroys the Goblin mask. He goes to a F.E.A.S.T. building, where May comforts him before Parker retrieves him. While discussing their battles with Spider-Man, Osborn, Octavius, and Dillon realize they were pulled from their universes just before their deaths. Strange prepares to reverse the contained spell and send the villains back to their respective universes, but Parker argues that they should first cure the villains' powers and insanity that caused their deaths, to change their fates upon their return. Parker steals the spell, traps Strange in the Mirror Dimension, and, with May, takes the villains to Happy Hogan's apartment, where he uses Stark Industries technology to cure Octavius and restore his higher brain function. Before Parker can cure anyone else, however, his spider-sense goes off. He then discovers that the Goblin persona took control of Osborn, who convinces the uncured villains to betray Parker. As Dillon, Marko, and Connors escape, the Goblin fatally injures May. Before she dies, May tells Parker that "with great power, there must also come great responsibility".


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Ned discovers that he can create portals using Strange's sling ring, which he and MJ use to try to locate Parker. They instead find alternate versions of Parker from the villains' universes who were also summoned by Strange's spell and who are nicknamed "Peter-Two" and "Peter-Three". The group finds this universe's Parker, nicknamed "Peter-One", who is ready to give up and send the villains home to die. The alternate Parkers share stories of losing loved ones and encourage Peter-One to fight in May's honor, and the three Parkers develop cures for the villains.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: The group lure Dillon, Marko, and Connors to the Statue of Liberty. Peter-One and Peter-Two cure Connors and Marko while Octavius arrives to help cure Dillon, and Ned frees Strange from the Mirror Dimension. The Goblin appears and unleashes the contained spell, which breaks apart the barriers between universes, pulling in countless others who know Parker's identity. Strange attempts to hold them off while an enraged Peter-One tries to kill the Goblin, but Peter-Two stops him and gets stabbed by Goblin. Peter-Three helps Peter-One inject the Goblin with his cure, restoring Osborn's sanity. Peter-One realizes that the only way to protect the multiverse is to erase Peter Parker from everyone's memory and requests Strange to do so while promising MJ and Ned that he will find them again. The spell is cast, and everyone returns to their respective universes—including Eddie Brock, who unknowingly leaves behind a piece of the Venom symbiote. Two weeks later, Parker visits MJ and Ned to reintroduce himself, but he decides against it. While mourning at May's grave, he has a conversation with Hogan and is inspired to carry on, making a new suit and resuming his vigilantism.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Rhys Ifans reprises his role as Dr. Curt Connors / Lizard, an Oscorp scientist from Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012) who transformed into a large reptilian monster while trying to regrow his missing arm. Thomas Haden Church reprises his role as Flint Marko / Sandman, a small-time thief from Raimi's "Spider-Man 3" who received an ability to transform into sand. Both Ifans and Church returned to voice the characters, though footage at the end of the film when they revert to their human forms was archival footage from "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man 3", respectively. Watts served as a stand-in for Church on-set by providing motion-capture reference to the uncredited body double who physically replaced Church in the role. Charlie Cox reprises his role as Matt Murdock from Marvel Television's Netflix series, and Tom Hardy reprises his roles as Eddie Brock / Venom from Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) in an uncredited cameo appearance in the mid-credits scene.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: During production on "" (2017), two sequels were being planned by Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures. In June 2017, star Tom Holland explained that each film would take place during a different year of high school for Peter Parker / Spider-Man, with the third being set during the character's senior year. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige noted in July 2019 that the third film would feature "a Peter Parker story that has never been done before on film" due to the ending of the second film, "" (2019), which publicly reveals that Parker is Spider-Man.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Development on third and fourth MCU Spider-Man films had begun by August 2019, with Sony hoping Holland and director Jon Watts would return for both; Holland was contracted to return for one more film, while Watts had completed his two-film deal and would need to sign on for any more films. By then, Marvel Studios and its parent company The Walt Disney Studios had spent several months discussing expanding their deal with Sony. The existing deal had Marvel and Feige produce the Spider-Man films for Sony and receive 5% of their revenue. Sony wanted to expand the deal to include more films while keeping the same terms of the original agreement. Disney expressed concern with Feige's workload producing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise already and asked for a 25–50% stake in any future films Feige produced for Sony. Unable to come to an agreement, Sony announced that it would be moving forward on the next Spider-Man film without Feige or Marvel's involvement. Their statement acknowledged that this could change in the future, thanked Feige for his work on the first two films, and said they appreciated "the path [Feige] has helped put us on, which we will continue." Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers were writing the screenplay for the third film by the time of Sony's announcement, after also doing so for "Far From Home", but Watts was receiving offers to direct large films for other studios instead of returning to the franchise, including potentially working on a different property for Marvel Studios and Feige.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: In September 2019, Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Tony Vinciquerra said that "for the moment the door is closed" on Spider-Man returning to the MCU, and confirmed that the character would be integrated with Sony's own shared universe—Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU)—moving forward. Responding to backlash from fans following the announcement, Vinciquerra added that "the Marvel people are terrific people, we have great respect for them, but on the other hand we have some pretty terrific people of our own. [Feige] didn't do all the work ... we're pretty capable of doing what we have to do here." However, after this fan reaction continued at Disney's biennial convention D23, and at the urging of Holland who personally spoke to Disney CEO Bob Iger and Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman, the companies returned to negotiations. Sony and Disney announced a new agreement at the end of September which would allow Marvel Studios and Feige to produce another MCU Spider-Man film for Sony with Amy Pascal, scheduled for July 16, 2021. Disney was reportedly co-financing 25% of the film in exchange for 25% of its profits, while retaining the character's merchandising rights. Feige said he was "thrilled" that the character would remain in the MCU and said "all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working" on the franchise. The agreement also allowed Holland's Spider-Man to appear in a future Marvel Studios film as well as crossing over to Sony's own shared universe, with the latter interaction described as "a 'call and answer' between the two franchises as they acknowledge details between the two in what would loosely be described as a shared detailed universe". Sony described their previous films with Marvel Studios as a "great collaboration", and said "our mutual desire to continue was equal to that of the many fans." At the time of the new agreement, Watts was in final negotiations to direct the film.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Discussing the new deal in October, Iger attributed it to the efforts of Holland as well as the fan response to the end of the original deal. He felt that both Sony and Disney had initially forgotten that "there are other people who actually matter" while they were negotiating. Rothman said the deal was a "win-win-win. A win for Sony, a win for Disney, a win for the fans." He felt the initial reports on the negotiations did not necessarily line up with the actual discussions that were taking place, and said the final deal would have eventuated without the reports and fan discourse. Zendaya was confirmed to be reprising her role as MJ from the previous films in the sequel.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: McKenna and Sommers began working on the script in earnest by December 2019. They considered featuring Kraven the Hunter as the film's main antagonist, an idea that Watts had expressed interest in and pitched to Holland, before gravitating towards a story idea similar to "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) in which Parker makes a wish regarding his now public identity. That idea introduced Dr. Stephen Strange to the story, and the duo began exploring the idea of the multiverse and potentially revisiting characters from past "Spider-Man" films. Initially they thought this would just be a tease for fans but they ultimately decided to fully integrate the past characters into the plot. Sommers said, "Once it was collectively decided that we were going to take this swing, we had to commit and we had to do what was right for the story." They optimistically wrote for all the characters they wanted in the film before those actors were confirmed to be returning. Initial drafts of the film included every major character from past "Spider-Man" films returning, but this was narrowed down because the pair felt they had "bit[ten] off more than [they] could chew". The duo worked hard to prevent the film from just being "a bunch of fan service" by using the returning characters to help tell Peter Parker's story instead of just creating "curtain calls for everybody". Norman Osborn / Green Goblin from Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy was not the main villain of the film in the first version of the script, despite still appearing as an antagonist; after the film lost "other characters", McKenna and Sommers concluded that the Green Goblin "had to be" the main villain and rewrote the script to give him a second chance to replicate his actions in "Spider-Man" (2002), but in a darker way related to Holland's version of Spider-Man. America Chavez had been considered to appear in the film at one point to serve in the sorcerer's apprentice-type role that eventually became part of Ned Leeds's role in the film; she would go on to appear in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (2022).


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: By the end of 2019, filming was expected to begin in mid-2020. In April 2020, Sony rescheduled "No Way Home"s release to November 5, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the film was originally meant to be set after the events of "Multiverse of Madness", release date changes meant "No Way Home" would be released first which meant aspects of the plot had to be rewritten, including Strange no longer having firsthand knowledge of the multiverse. McKenna felt this made it "even more frightening, to start fooling around with these things, because it's the fear of the unknown". In June, Marisa Tomei confirmed that she would return as May Parker along with Watts as director. She was hopeful that May's work as a community organizer would be featured in the film. Also in June, Charlie Cox, who portrayed Matt Murdock / Daredevil in Marvel Television's Netflix series, was contacted by Feige about reprising his role in upcoming Marvel Studios projects starting with appearances in "No Way Home" and the Disney+ series "". The next month, Holland said production was planned to take place from late 2020 to February 2021, and Sony shifted the film's release date to December 17, 2021. Tony Revolori was also confirmed to be reprising his role as Flash Thompson. In early October, Jacob Batalon and Benedict Cumberbatch were set to reprise their MCU roles of Ned Leeds and Strange, while Jamie Foxx was set to return as Max Dillon / Electro from Marc Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (2014), with filming beginning later in the month. Immediately prior to the beginning of filming, several other key actors in the film had yet to sign on. According to Holland, the film needed "all or none" of the actors in order to be produced.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Second unit filming occurred from October 14 to 16, 2020, in New York City, under the working title "Serenity Now", to capture visual effects plates and establishing shots. Filming occurred in the Astoria, Sunnyside, and Long Island City neighborhoods in Queens. On October 23, filming occurred in Greenwich Village in Manhattan.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: The production moved to Atlanta by October 25, with Holland, Batalon, and Zendaya joining for principal photography, after Holland finished shooting Sony's "Uncharted" (2022) two days earlier. Mauro Fiore served as cinematographer on the film, replacing Seamus McGarvey, who had to leave the production after contracting COVID-19. McGarvey also had a conflict with the film "Cyrano" (2021) following "No Way Home" pandemic-caused production delay, as principal photography was originally planned to start in July 2020. Shooting in Atlanta occurred at Trilith Studios, with strict safety measures in place on the soundstages to prevent exposure to COVID-19. To reduce interactions between cast and crew members on set during the pandemic, the production reportedly relied on "innovative new technology" that scanned actors into a visual effects system that can apply make-up and costumes to actors during post-production. A light system was also in-place to signal when the cast could take off their masks for filming and when masks would be required for the cast and crew members to wear while set work was being done. Cumberbatch began shooting his scenes in Atlanta by late November, before beginning work on "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" which began filming that month in London. Filming ran for seven-to-eight weeks using the working titles "Serenity Now" and "The November Project", before a break during the 2020 Christmas season.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: By December 2020, Alfred Molina was set to reprise his role as Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus from Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 2" (2004), with Tobey Maguire reprising his role as Peter Parker / Spider-Man from Raimi's "Spider-Man" film trilogy and Andrew Garfield returning as Peter Parker / Spider-Man from Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man" films. A cameo appearance of Maguire and Garfield alongside Holland as their respective Spider-Men had previously been considered for the Sony Pictures Animation film "" (2018), but was cut then because Sony felt at that moment that it would be too risky and confusing. At that time, "Collider" reported that Maguire and Garfield would appear in the film alongside Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson from Raimi's "Spider-Man" film trilogy and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy from the "Amazing Spider-Man" films. The first draft of the script included other characters from the "Spider-Man" and "Amazing Spider-Man" films, but the writers felt that including too many characters would negatively affect the story. The rumors about returning actors led to speculation and commentary, with Richard Newby of "The Hollywood Reporter" believing that a crossover-style film could "lessen the impact" of Sony's successful animated "Into the Spider-Verse" film. His colleague Graeme McMillan felt a "Spider-Verse" crossover would allow Marvel to "clean up some loose ends ... and fulfill some fan dreams in the process", especially if Marvel and Sony's negotiations meant that they wanted to separate Spider-Man from the MCU. "/Film" Hoai-Tran Bui feared the film was becoming over-crowded and wished that Holland could lead a Spider-Man film without a "bigger A-list star showing him the ropes", while Adam B. Vary of "Variety" noted that these reports were not confirmed and questioned whether the returning actors would be making more than cameo appearances. Shortly after, Holland denied that Maguire and Garfield would appear in the film. Many of the actors returning from previous "Spider-Man" films were brought to set in cloaks in order to help prevent their involvements in the film from leaking. Around Christmas 2020, McKenna and Sommers rewrote the introductions of Maguire and Garfield as well as much of the third act in time for those actors to start filming. They had not been able to focus on those scenes earlier because they were busy during filming of much of the first and second acts in the previous months.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Feige confirmed in December 2020 that the film would have connections to "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness". A month later he discussed the fact that the film's title had not yet been announced, acknowledging that it was being referred to by some as "Spider-Man 3" and revealing that Marvel was referring to it as "Homecoming 3" internally. Cox had shot material for the film by then. An Atlanta set photo indicated that the film would be set during the Christmas season. Filming occurred at Frederick Douglass High School from January 22 to 24. The next month, Holland described it as "the most ambitious standalone superhero" film, and again denied the rumors that Maguire and Garfield would appear. At the end of February, the film's title was revealed to be "Spider-Man: No Way Home", continuing the naming convention of the past two films of featuring "home" in the title. Filming took place at Midtown High School from March 19 to 21. The Atlanta Public Schools system had stopped allowing buildings in the district for use as filming locations because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but gave this film an exception since both the Frederick Douglass and Midtown schools were previously used as filming locations in "Spider-Man: Homecoming". Hannibal Buress was revealed to be reprising his role as gym teacher Coach Wilson, with Buress releasing a music video in August 2021 revealing that he had filmed scenes in Atlanta. Holland said "No Way Home" had more "visceral" fight sequences than the previous two films, with more hand-to-hand combat. Filming wrapped on March 26, 2021.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: In April 2021, Molina confirmed that he was appearing in the film, explaining that he had been told not to talk about his role in the film during production but he realized that his appearance had been widely rumored and reported on. Later that month, J. B. Smoove revealed that he was returning as Julius Dell from "Far From Home", while Cox stated that he was not involved with the film. In early May, Garfield denied that he had been asked to appear in the film, but later said "never say never", while Angourie Rice was revealed to be returning as Betty Brant. Later that month, Stone denied her involvement in the film.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Sony Pictures Group President Sanford Panitch acknowledged in May that there had been confusion and frustration from fans regarding the relationship between the SSU and the MCU, but stated that there was a plan to clarify this. He believed it was already "getting a little more clear for people [as to] where we're headed" at that time and added that the release of "No Way Home" would reveal more of this plan. Vary commented that the apparent introduction of multiverse elements in "No Way Home" could be what would allow Holland to appear in both the MCU and the SSU. The official trailer for "No Way Home" confirmed the involvements of Jon Favreau as Harold "Happy" Hogan and Benedict Wong as Wong, reprising their roles from past MCU films, as well as J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson from "Far From Home" (Simmons previously played a different version of the character in the Raimi trilogy as well). It was also confirmed that the characters Electro and Green Goblin would appear in the film, with the implication that this incarnation of Green Goblin would be Willem Dafoe's version from the Raimi films. In September 2021, Garfield again denied he was in the film, saying, "No matter what I say... it's either going to be really disappointing for people or it's going to be really exciting". Garfield later described his denials as "rather stressful but also weirdly enjoyable".


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: In early October, many commentators expected Tom Hardy to reprise his roles as Eddie Brock and Venom from "Venom" (2018) and "" (2021), after the "Let There Be Carnage" mid-credits scene showed the characters being transported from their universe (the SSU) to the MCU. Feige said there was a lot of coordination between the "Let There Be Carnage" and "No Way Home" teams to create the scene, which was directed by Watts during the production of "No Way Home". Hardy ultimately appeared as Brock in the film's mid-credits scene, though there had been discussions about integrating him into the film's final battle. Later that month, "Empire" issue on "No Way Home" stated that the film would include the returns of Doctor Octopus, Electro, Dafoe's Green Goblin, Thomas Haden Church's Flint Marko / Sandman from Raimi's "Spider-Man 3" (2007), and Rhys Ifans's Curt Connors / Lizard from Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012). Watts said these were still unconfirmed rumors and was in "no hurry to confirm or deny appearances" of the characters, while Feige said the rumors were fun for fans but audiences should not expect them all to come true. The film's second trailer confirmed the involvements of Dafoe, Church, and Ifans.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: At the beginning of November, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. revealed that he would be reprising his role as Jason Ionello from "Homecoming" and "Far From Home" in a similar role to those films that would have "very little to do with the core" story. By the middle of the month, additional photography had been completed for the film. Pascal described "No Way Home" as "the culmination of the "Homecoming" trilogy", and Arian Moayed revealed that he had a role in the film. Dunst said she was not in the film, but would "never say no" to reprising her role of Mary Jane Watson. A teaser trailer for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" was included at the end of the film as a post-credits scene, before being released online shortly after "No Way Home" theatrical release.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Jeffrey Ford and Leigh Folsom Boyd served as the film's editors. The visual effects were provided by Cinesite, Clear Angle Studios, Crafty Apes, Digital Domain, Folks VFX, Framestore, Luma Pictures, Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies, Mr. X, Perception, Secret Lab, Sony Pictures Imageworks, and SSVFX.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: In November 2020, "Homecoming" and "Far From Home" composer Michael Giacchino was confirmed to be returning for "No Way Home". The film's score album was released digitally on December 17, 2021, with a track titled "Arachnoverture" released as a single on December 9 and another titled "Exit Through the Lobby" released the following day. Giacchino references themes from previous "Spider-Man" films by Hans Zimmer, James Horner, and Danny Elfman, as well as his own themes from "Doctor Strange" (2016). Regarding the use of these other themes, Giacchino did not want their use to be fan service and finding ways to include them in a "very targeted" way. He and Watts were "very much in alignment in terms of when to use them and when not to use them for their maximum effect".


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: In May 2020, Sony entered a promotional partnership with Hyundai Motor Group to showcase their new models and technologies in the film; Hyundai later released a commercial, titled "Only Way Home", that was directed by Watts to promote the film and the Ioniq 5 electric-powered SUV (which appears in the film along with the Hyundai Tucson), with Holland and Batalon starring. In late February 2021, Holland, Batalon, and Zendaya released three stills featuring their characters from the film alongside fake logos with the titles "Spider-Man: Phone Home", "Spider-Man: Home-Wrecker", and "Spider-Man: Home Slice", respectively. The film's official title was announced the next day with a video showing Holland, Batalon, and Zendaya leaving Watts's office (where they supposedly received the fake titles). Batalon and Zendaya note that Holland could not be trusted with the actual title since he had "accidentally" revealed the second film's title. The video ends on a whiteboard showing the film's true title, among various other titles featuring the word "home" that were apparently considered. Jennifer Bisset of "CNET" suggested the fake titles and logos could represent the villains in the film, including Foxx's Electro and Molina's Doctor Octopus, while "TheWrap" Umberto Gonzalez called them funny "bait-and-switch fakes", and noted the "Phone Home" title referenced a line from "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982). Gregory Lawrence of "Collider" felt the "Home-Wrecker" title could point to the film feeling like a 1990s thriller film, and said the fake titles were a "solid goof" to excite fans. He also compared the stills to the "terrifying/awe-inspiring wonder" of Steven Spielberg films and "The Goonies" (1985), while Germain Lussier from "io9" said they gave off "subtle "National Treasure", "Indiana Jones" vibes". In July 2021, Marvel revealed various toys and figurines for the film, including Funko Pops, Marvel Legends figures, and Lego sets.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: At the end of August 2021, when asked about the lack of trailer and official images or descriptions for the film, Feige stated that the film was not being "any more or less secret than any of our other projects" and reaffirmed that a trailer would be released before the film's premiere in theaters. Though Sony handles the marketing for the film, their marketing team is in coordination with Disney's to ensure each knows when the other is releasing MCU-related content so it is a "win-win for everybody". On August 22, an apparent leak of the first trailer was shared on social media, which "The Hollywood Reporter" deemed "legitimate" after Sony worked to have various copies of the trailer taken down. Adam Chitwood at "Collider" noted the built up online "fervor" surrounding the trailer and felt that it would not be able to "live up to the hype fans have built up in their minds". Chitwood continued that the other 2021 film releases from Marvel Studios had not seen a similar level of demand as "No Way Home", pointing out that all of the rumored castings had positioned the film to be a "once-in-a-lifetime moviegoing experience" if they were accurate. He also wondered if Sony was wary of committing marketing that noted the film's December 2021 release date amid the resurgence of the COVID-19 Delta variant.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: The film's teaser trailer was officially released on August 23 during Sony's CinemaCon 2021 panel. "Entertainment Weekly" Devan Coggan noted that the trailer confirmed the multiverse's role in the film, including elements from the Raimi and Webb films, while Ethan Anderton from "/Film" called the trailer "nothing short of thrilling" since it confirmed many of the previous rumors about the film. Austen Goslin at "Polygon" conversely felt much of what had been rumored did not get revealed in the trailer, feeling that the rumors were either false or Marvel was still intending to keep them a secret. Anderton's colleague Joshua Meyer called the trailer "a doozy... packed with jaw-dropping moments" and noted how the film would be adapting the "" comic book storyline; Newby had previously noted the apparent adaption of "One More Day" and "One Moment in Time" storylines following the reveal of Cumberbatch's casting. Many commentators noted the possible teases of Spider-Man villains Sandman and the Lizard in the trailer as an indication of the Sinister Six forming in the film. Vinnie Mancuso at "Collider" was excited to see the return of Molina and the potential for Dafoe's involvement, but called it a "cheap pop" since it was doing "a disservice to the stories you're trying to tell in the present by reminding the audience how much better things used to be". He also felt the trailer played into "Marvel's ongoing reluctance to let Tom Holland's Spider-Man star in his own Spider-Man movies" since the trailer gave Parker "zero memorable moments" amongst all of its elements. The trailer had 355.5million global views in its first 24 hours, becoming the most viewed trailer in that time period. This surpassed the record of "Avengers: Endgame" (289million views) and more than doubled the views for the "Spider-Man: Far From Home" trailer (135 million). It also generated the largest 24-hour social media conversation volume of all-time globally with 4.5 million mentions, made up of 2.91 million in the United States, and 1.5 million internationally; these both exceeded "Avengers: Endgame" mentions (1.94 million in the United States, 1.38 million internationally).


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: The second official trailer premiered at a fan screening at the Regal Sherman Oaks theater in Los Angeles on November 16, 2021. Goslin felt the trailer "reveals the full extent of Marvel's Spider-Man multiverse", while his colleague Matt Patches noted the missing appearance of Maguire's or Garfield's Spider-Man in the trailer but felt that it was "entirely possible the actors appear in "No Way Home"". Jason Robbins of "Collider" was disappointed by the trailer, saying it was "what we expected, but less", since it just showed the returning villains and had no confirmation of Maguire or Garfield or "further insight into the multiverse". Some commentators said parts of the trailer appeared as though Maguire and Garfield had been edited out of the footage, such as a shot in which the Lizard appears to be struck by an invisible force. On November 24, Sony began releasing several videos on TikTok as part of their "The Daily Bugle" viral marketing campaign featuring Simmons and Rice. In December 2021, the first minute of the film premiered exclusively on "Late Night with Seth Meyers", while a newsstand for "The Daily Bugle" was set up in New York City in partnership with Liberty Mutual to promote the film. Other marketing partners include the video games "Fortnite" and "PUBG Mobile", which featured special in-game Spider-Man themed props and costumes, Asus, whose Republic of Gamers (ROG) laptop is used by Ned in the film, Xiaomi, iQOO, Continental AG, and Tampico Beverages. The film had a total promotional marketing value of $202 million.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: "Spider-Man: No Way Home" had its world premiere at Fox Village Theatre in Los Angeles on December 13, 2021. The film was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on December 15, and in the United States on December 17, where it opened in 4,325 theaters including in IMAX and other premium large formats. It was previously set for release on July 16, 2021, but was pushed back to November 5, before it was further shifted to the December 2021 date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is part of of the MCU.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: In August 2021, Sony and CJ 4DPlex announced a deal to release 15 of Sony's films over three years in the ScreenX format, including "No Way Home". In November 2021, the film was reported to be getting a theatrical release in China, making it the first Phase Four film to do so as "Black Widow", "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", and "Eternals" were not released in the country, though , there is no release date, in part because of diplomatic tensions between China and the United States, including the U.S. diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Chinese authorities had requested for the Statue of Liberty to be removed from the film, which Sony refused.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: An extended cut of the film, subtitled "The More Fun Stuff Version", was announced in June 2022. The re-release celebrates 60 years of Spider-Man in comics and 20 years of Spider-Man in film, and features approximately 13 minutes of additional and deleted scenes. The additions include: an introduction by Holland, Maguire, and Garfield; additional scenes of Parker and May being interrogated by the Department of Damage Control; the scene with Holland's brother Harry as a thief that was cut from the original release; "Daily Bugle" reports of Parker's first day back at school and the arrivals of Dillon and Marko; additional scenes of Parker at school; Brant interviewing Parker, his teachers, and his classmates; additional scenes in the basement of the New York Sanctum; a scene featuring May, Parker, and the villains in an elevator while on the way to Hogan's apartment; an additional scene with Murdock and Hogan; additional scenes of the three Parkers; and a new post-credits scene, replacing the "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" teaser trailer, which showcases the effects of Strange's second spell.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: "The More Fun Stuff Version" was released in theaters beginning August 31, 2022, in Indonesia, followed by the United States and Canada, among other countries, on September 1, and later in a number of other markets through October 6. The poster for the extended cut was considered an improvement from the original release's marketing, since it was able to feature all of the characters previously kept a secret leading up to the film's release. Shrishty Mishra at "Collider" said it was an ""Avengers"-style poster [with] a perfect blend of the multiverse feels, combined with the 'Where's Waldo' effect". Anthony Lund of "MovieWeb" called it an "epic poster that [the fans] have been calling out for". "ComicBook.com"s Russ Burlingame said the poster was what "we've all been waiting for" and "a big change in the way [Sony] initially promoted the movie" since they "continued to play coy" on the cameos after the film had released.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: "Spider-Man: No Way Home" was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on digital on March 15, 2022, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on April 12, 2022. Digitally, the film was also available in a three-film bundle including all of Marvel Studios' Spider-Man films, as well as an eight-film bundle including Holland, Maguire, and Garfield's films. Sony moved the digital release up to March 15 from March 22, 2022, following Blu-ray versions of the film being leaked to torrent sites. The home media includes a gag reel and various behind-the-scenes featurettes, including two roundtable discussions: one with Dafoe, Molina, and Foxx, and another with Holland, Maguire, and Garfield. It has the most pre-release digital purchases on Vudu, surpassing the purchases for "Avengers: Endgame". To announce the home media release dates, Sony and the film's social media accounts posted a photo of Holland, Maguire, and Garfield recreating a popular meme from the 1967 "Spider-Man" television series of multiple Spider-Men pointing at one another; the tweets of the image garnered more than 10,000 retweets within minutes of being posted. Within its first week of release, the film sold over 2.1 million digital units in the United States, equalling $42 million; this was a record for a film's first week available on digital release.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: The film was released on Starz following its theatrical and home media releases, the last film released by Sony with an exclusive limited streaming video on demand (SVOD) release on Starz. Following films would be released on Netflix after their theatrical and home media releases, through 2026. Additionally, Sony signed a deal with Disney in April 2021 giving the latter access to Sony's legacy content, including past Spider-Man films and Marvel content in the SSU, to stream on Disney+ and Hulu and appear on Disney's linear television networks. Disney's access to Sony's titles to be released from 2022 through 2026 would come following their availability on Netflix. In February 2022, Sony expanded their pre-existing deal with WarnerMedia for making their films available on HBO Max and HBO across Central and Eastern Europe, which included "No Way Home". "The More Fun Stuff Version" was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on digital on October 18, 2022 as "Spider-Man: No Way Home – Extended Cut", when it also began streaming on Starz.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: "Spider-Man: No Way Home" grossed $814.1million in the United States and Canada, and $1.102billion in other territories for a worldwide total of $1.916billion. It is the highest-grossing film of 2021, the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time, the third-highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada, the highest-grossing "Spider-Man" film, and the highest-grossing film released by Sony. "No Way Home" is also the first film since "" (2019) to gross over $1billion, becoming the third-fastest to reach that milestone and the first to do so during the COVID-19 pandemic. It surpassed "" (2017) to become Sony Pictures' highest-grossing film in North America. Based off a final projected worldwide gross of $1.75 billion (a figure that was surpassed), "Deadline Hollywood" estimated the film's final net profit at $610million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs versus box office grosses and home media revenues. It returned the global revenue of Cineworld, the world's second-largest cinema operator, to 88% of 2019 levels.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: In the United States and Canada, "Spider-Man: No Way Home" earned $121.85million (which included $50million from its Thursday night previews) on its opening day, becoming the second-highest opening film after "Avengers: Endgame" ($157.4million) and the highest-opening film for a December release. In its opening weekend, it grossed $260million, surpassing "Avengers: Infinity War" ($257.7million) to become the second-highest domestic box office opening of all time. , an estimated 54.4million people have seen "Spider-Man: No Way Home" in theaters in the United States and Canada. The film remained at the top of the box office for three additional weekends until it was dethroned in its fifth weekend by "Scream". In its sixth weekend of release, "Spider-Man: No Way Home" reclaimed the top spot at the box office. The film once again held onto the number one spot in its seventh weekend of release. In March 2022, the film surpassed $800 million in the United States and Canada, becoming the third film to do so after "" (2015) and "Avengers: Endgame". Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian called the film "arguably the most important movie to the movie theater industry ever", as it helped show the viability of the movie theater industry and the benefit of theatrical release windows while the industry recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. The film dropped to the 11th spot on its 15th weekend. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" returned to first place at the box office, earning $1.8 million on the first day of the release of "The More Fun Stuff Version", and went on to finish third with $6.5 million over the four-day Labor Day weekend, finishing behind "" and "Bullet Train". It was the highest opening weekend box office gross for a re-released MCU film, surpassing "Avengers: Endgame" ($5.5 million) and "Spider-Man: Far From Home" ($4 million).


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: "Spider-Man: No Way Home" earned $43.6million from 15 markets on its opening day, with Sony holding the best opening-day record in South Korea, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, and Taiwan. In South Korea, the film grossed $5.28million on its opening day, thereby beating "Spider-Man: Far From Home"s opening day in the country by over 11% and the biggest day-one figure for any film during the pandemic. In the United Kingdom, the film beat "No Time to Die"s opening box office record at £7.6million ($10.1million). In India, the film's box office on its opening day was to , beating "Endgame" and the Indian film "Sooryavanshi" (2021). In its five-day opening weekend, the film grossed $340.8million from 60 markets. In Latin America as of January 16, 2022, it became the all-time highest-grossing film in Mexico (), and the second all-time highest in Brazil (), Central America () and Ecuador (). , the film's largest markets are the United Kingdom ($127.3million), Mexico ($76.2million), Australia ($67.9million), France ($65.2million), and South Korea ($63.1million).


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Tickets went on sale the midnight of November 29, 2021, with several ticket websites such as Fandango and AMC Theatres crashing due to the high influx of users attempting to purchase tickets. Ticket sales on Fandango surpassed those for "Black Widow" in just two hours, and by the end of the day it became the best first-day advance ticket sale since "Endgame", while also surpassing the 24-hour ticket sales of "Avengers: Infinity War", "" (2017), "Spider-Man: Far From Home", "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" and "Rogue One" (2016). "No Way Home" had second-highest one-day ticket sales on AMC, with CEO Adam Aron attributing this to Spider-Man-themed non-fungible tokens (NFTs).


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: The film also set records in Mexico with $7million in the first-day ticket sale, which was 40% above "Endgame". In the United Kingdom, the film outsold "No Time to Die" three times in the same twelve-day span before their release, while Brazil's ticket sale was 5% above "Endgame" at the same point. The film also passed the presale records of "The Rise of Skywalker" in Poland and "No Time to Die" in Portugal. Other markets with the best presale records include Spain, Brazil, and Central America.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 93%, with an average score of 7.9/10, based on 421 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "A bigger, bolder "Spider-Man" sequel, "No Way Home" expands the franchise's scope and stakes without losing sight of its humor and heart." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 60 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade on an A+ to F scale, the first live-action Spider-Man film and the fourth MCU film overall to earn the score after "The Avengers" (2012), "Black Panther" (2018), and "Avengers: Endgame". PostTrak reported 96% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 91% saying they would definitely recommend it.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Amelia Emberwing of "IGN" gave the film 8 out of 10, stating that its "impact on the universe as a whole, as well as the overall emotional beats, all feel earned" while praising the performances of Dafoe, Molina, and Foxx. Pete Hammond of "Deadline Hollywood" praised Watts's direction and wrote, "Holland, Zendaya, and Batalon are a priceless trio, and the various villains and 'others' who pop in and out make this pure movie fun of the highest order. Fans will be in heaven". Peter Debruge of "Variety" praised Garfield's and Maguire's performances and felt the film "provides enough resolution for the past two decades of Spider-Man adventures that audiences who've tuned out along the way will be rewarded for giving this one a shot". Writing for "Den of Geek", Don Kaye gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, for its action sequences, performances and chemistry of the cast, stating that ""No Way Home" channels the entire spectrum of Spider-Man movies while setting the character on a course all his own at last". Jennifer Bisset of "CNET" praised the action sequences, performances, and story, writing: "A Russo Brothers influence can almost be felt ushering Holland's third Spider-Man movie into new, weightier territory. If the character is to become the next Tony Stark, this is the way to etch a few more scars into a more interesting hero's facade. If you came for the biggest movie of the year, you'll definitely leave satisfied".


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Kevin Maher of "The Times" gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, saying that it was "As satisfying to watch as it is perilous to discuss", and described it as "a dynamite blast of smarty-pants postmodernism that never once abandons its emotional core." Benjamin Lee of "The Guardian" gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, praising Watts for "bringing back numerous baddies from the previous Spider-Man universes, delivering a propulsive, slickly choreographed adventure that will appease a broad fanbase this Christmas" but feeling that the script "lacks the expected fizz, that sense of shaggy fun struggling to break through a more robotic plot". Kate Erbland of "IndieWire" gave the film a "B−", feeling that Watts's work was "satisfying, emotional, and occasionally unsteady". She found that the script spent "far too long dwelling on the machinations of people and plans we already know, throwing in some awkward misdirection and simply delaying the inevitable". "The Hollywood Reporter"s John DeFore felt that the inclusion of "multiversal mayhem" addressed the "Iron Man-ification of the character" that made Holland-centric films "least fun".


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: "CNN"'s Brian Lowry praised the humor and wrote, "What's already apparent, though, is that this movie was conceived to be savored and enjoyed. And in what has become an increasingly elusive phenomenon, that will include whoops and hollers from appreciative fans in theaters, where "Spider-Man" will first reveal its secrets, and then, more than likely, shows off its legs." Richard Roeper of "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film 3 out of 4 and praised the performances of Holland and Zendaya, writing: "There's nothing new or particularly memorable about the serviceable CGI and practical effects, but we remain invested in the outcome in large part because Holland remains the best of the cinematic Spider-Men, while Zendaya lends heart and smarts and warmth to every moment she's onscreen. We continue to root for these two to make it, even if the multiverse isn't always on their side." In contrast, Bilge Ebiri of "Vulture" called the film "aggressively mediocre", but praised Dafoe – who he said "once again gets to have some modest fun with his character's divided self" – and Garfield, calling him a "genuine delight" and naming his the film's best performance.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: "No Way Home" was nominated for an Academy Award, three Visual Effects Society awards (winning one), a Costume Designers Guild Award, a Golden Reel Award, three Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (winning all), five Critics' Choice Super Awards (winning three), and nine Saturn Awards (winning one), among others. The film was disqualified from consideration for the 75th British Academy Film Awards because it was not made available on BAFTA's streaming service, reportedly due to Sony being concerned about piracy. It was included on preliminary shortlists for the 94th Academy Awards in the Best Sound and Best Visual Effects categories, and it was also submitted for consideration in other major categories such as Best Picture. "No Way Home" was ultimately nominated for Best Visual Effects. As part of the ceremony's "Oscars Fan Favorite" contest, the three Spider-Men teaming up was one of the five finalists for Oscars Cheer Moment, and the film was the favorite to win the "Fan Favorite" film contest according to a Morning Consult survey. It ended up finishing second and fourth, respectively.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: By August 2019, a fourth film in the franchise was in development alongside "No Way Home". In February 2021, Holland said "No Way Home" was the final film under his contract but he hoped to continue playing Spider-Man in the future if asked. That October, Holland said "No Way Home" was being treated as "the end of a franchise" that began with "Homecoming", with any additional solo films featuring the MCU Spider-Man characters to be different from the first trilogy of films and feature a tonal change. A month later, Holland said he was unsure if he should continue making Spider-Man films and felt he would have "done something wrong" if he was still portraying the character in his thirties. He expressed interest in a film focusing on the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man instead. Despite this, Pascal hoped to continue working with Holland on future Spider-Man films. Later in November, Pascal said there were plans for another trilogy of Spider-Man films starring Holland, with work on the first of those about to begin, though Sony did not yet have official plans for further MCU Spider-Man films.


title: Spider-Man: No Way Home

text: Feige confirmed in December that he and Pascal, along with Sony and Disney, were actively beginning to develop the story for the next "Spider-Man" film following Parker's "momentous decision" in "No Way Home". He promised that the partnership between Sony and Disney would not break down again as it did during the development of "No Way Home". In April 2022, following Watts' exit as director of Marvel Studios' "Fantastic Four" in order to take a break from blockbuster films, "Deadline Hollywood" reported that Sony still expected Watts (along with Holland and Zendaya) to eventually return for the next MCU "Spider-Man" film.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Top Gun: Maverick is a 2022 American action drama film directed by Joseph Kosinski and written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie from a story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks. The film is a sequel to the 1986 film "Top Gun." Tom Cruise reprises his starring role as the naval aviator Maverick. It was based on the characters of the original film created by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr.. The film also stars Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, and Ed Harris. In the film, Maverick confronts his past while training a group of younger Top Gun graduates, including the son of his deceased best friend, for a dangerous mission.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Development on a "Top Gun" sequel was announced in 2010 by Paramount Pictures. Cruise, along with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott, were asked to return. Craig wrote a draft of the screenplay in 2012, but the project stalled when Scott died later that year. The film was later dedicated to Scott's memory. Production resumed in 2017 after Kosinski was hired to direct. Principal photography, which involved the use of IMAX-certified 6K full-frame cameras, took place from May 2018 to April 2019 in California, Washington, and Maryland. An initial release date was scheduled for July 12, 2019, but it was delayed several times due to the complex action sequences and the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, several streaming companies attempted to purchase the streaming rights to the film from Paramount, but all offers were declined on the orders of Cruise, who insisted the film be released exclusively in theaters.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: "Top Gun: Maverick" premiered at CinemaCon on April 28, 2022, and was theatrically released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on May 27, 2022, in IMAX, 4DX, ScreenX, and Dolby Cinema. The film was acclaimed by critics, with many calling it better than the original. It won Best Film from the National Board of Review, and was also named one of the top ten films of 2022 by the American Film Institute. The film also received , including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Picture. It grossed $1.488 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2022, the second film released since the COVID-19 pandemic to gross $1 billion, and the highest-grossing film of Cruise's career.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Over 30 years after graduating from Top Gun, United States Navy Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is a test pilot. Despite many achievements, repeated insubordination has kept him from flag rank; his friend and former Top Gun rival, Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, now commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, often protects Maverick from being grounded. Rear Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain plans to shut down Maverick's hypersonic "Darkstar" scramjet program in favor of funding drones. To save the program from cancellation, Maverick changes the flight plan in the upcoming test from Mach 9 to Mach 10 to meet the program's contract specification. However, the prototype is destroyed when Maverick pushes beyond Mach 10. Iceman again saves Maverick's career by sending him to NAS North Island for his next assignment, but Hammer warns Maverick that the era of crewed fighter aircraft will soon end.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: The Navy has been tasked with destroying an unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant, which is in an underground bunker at the end of a canyon. It is defended by SA-3 Goa surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), GPS jammers, and what appear to be fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 fighters as well as previous-generation F-14 Tomcats. Maverick devises a plan to attack with two pairs of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets armed with laser-guided bombs, but instead of participating in the strike, he is to train an elite group of Top Gun graduates assembled by Air Boss Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Maverick out-dogfights his skeptical students to win their respect. Lieutenants Jake "Hangman" Seresin and Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw—son of Maverick's late best friend and RIO Nick "Goose" Bradshaw—clash: Rooster dislikes Hangman's cavalier attitude, while Hangman criticizes Rooster's cautious flying. Maverick reunites with former girlfriend Penny Benjamin, to whom he reveals that he promised Rooster's mother on her deathbed that Rooster would not become a pilot. Rooster, unaware of the promise, angrily resents Maverick for impeding his military career and blames him for his father's death. Maverick is reluctant to further interfere with Rooster's career, but the alternative is to send him on the extremely dangerous mission. He tells his doubts to Iceman, who advises that "It's time to let go" and reassures him that both the Navy and Rooster need Maverick.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: After Iceman dies of throat cancer, Cyclone removes Maverick as instructor following a training incident in which an F/A-18F is lost. Cyclone relaxes the mission parameters, so they are easier to execute but make escape much more difficult. During Cyclone's announcement, Maverick makes an unauthorized flight through the training course with his preferred parameters, proving that it can be done. Cyclone reluctantly appoints Maverick as team leader.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Maverick flies the lead F/A-18E in the strike package, accompanied by a buddy lazing F/A-18F flown by Lieutenant Natasha "Phoenix" Trace and WSO Lieutenant Robert "Bob" Floyd. Rooster leads the second strike pair, which includes Lieutenant Reuben "Payback" Fitch and WSO Lieutenant Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia. The four jets launch from an aircraft carrier, and Tomahawk cruise missiles destroy the nearby air base as they approach. The teams successfully destroy the plant, but the SAMs open fire during their escape as expected. Rooster runs out of countermeasures, and Maverick sacrifices his F/A-18E to protect Rooster. Believing Maverick to be killed, the others are ordered back to the carrier. Defying orders, Rooster returns to find that Maverick safely ejected and is being targeted by an Mi-24 attack helicopter. After destroying the gunship, Rooster is shot down by a SAM and ejects. The two rendezvous and steal an F-14 from the destroyed air base. Maverick and Rooster destroy two intercepting Su-57s, but a third arrives as they run out of ammunition and countermeasures. Hangman arrives from standby to shoot down the Su-57, and the planes return safely.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Later, Rooster helps Maverick work on his P-51 Mustang. Rooster looks at a photo of their mission's success, pinned alongside a photo of his late father and a young Maverick, as Penny and Maverick fly off into the sunset in the P-51.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Anthony Edwards, Meg Ryan, and Aaron and Adam Weis appear as the Bradshaw family in archive footage from "Top Gun", along with Kelly McGillis as Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: In 1990, during the promotion of "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989), Tom Cruise dismissed the notion of a sequel to "Top Gun" (1986) as "irresponsible". Development on the film began in 2010 when Paramount Pictures made offers to Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott to make a sequel to "Top Gun", with Tom Cruise reprising his role. When asked about his idea for a new "Top Gun" film, Scott replied, "This world fascinated me, because it's so different from what it was originally. But I don't want to do a remake. I don't want to do a reinvention. I want to do a new movie." The film was reported to focus on the end of the dogfighting era and the role of drones in modern aerial warfare and that Cruise's character, Maverick, will fly an F/A-18E Super Hornet. After Scott's suicide in 2012, the sequel's future remained in question, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer remained committed to the project, especially given Cruise's and Kilmer's interest.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: In June 2017, Cruise revealed that the sequel would be titled as "Top Gun: Maverick", as he "did not need a number in all sequel titles". He added that the film is "going to be a competition film, similar to the first one", but clarified it as "a progression for Maverick". By July 2017, Joseph Kosinski was announced as the director, after previously collaborating with Cruise on "Oblivion" (2013). Kosinski met with Cruise on the set of "" (2018), providing a lookbook, a poster, and a title, "Top Gun: Maverick," prior to his hiring. Cruise then contacted Jim Gianopulos and requested to make the film.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: On June 19, 2019, at CineEurope in Barcelona, attendees were able to watch for the first time some early footage of the film from a special Paramount presentation. During the presentation the President of International Theatrical Distribution Mark Viane and co-president of Worldwide Marketing and Distribution Mary Daily appeared in flight clothes, as a part of promotion. In 2019, China's Tencent invested 12.5% of the film but later pulled out of the project at the end of that year over concerns that the film's themes could anger the Chinese government.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: By mid-2010, Christopher McQuarrie received an offer to write the sequel's screenplay, which was rumored to have Cruise's character Maverick in a smaller role. The following year, Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz were credited as screenwriters on the project. The studio would later move onto Peter Craig to draft a new script under Scott's direction in March 2012. However, the project was unexpectedly stalled due to Scott's suicide in August of that year. In March 2014, Bruckheimer said the filmmakers were taking a new approach, which involved pilots being rendered obsolete by drones.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: In September 2014, the sequel was officially revived with Justin Marks entering negotiations to write the screenplay. Marks claimed that the sequel to "Top Gun" was his "dream project" and that the first film was "an iconic film in his memory" which inspired him to pursue his film career. He researched the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35, for the Maverick's script to give an insight of "how Top Gun would be represented in the current period".


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Prior to his death, Scott had apparently finalized the script and began scouting locations. He and Cruise had toured Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, a week prior for research purposes. "The Hollywood Reporter" stated the "Top Gun" sequel was one of three directing projects in "advanced development".


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: During scripting discussions in Paris in 2017, where Cruise was shooting for "Mission: Impossible – Fallout", Kosinski pitched two ideas to Cruise. The first, about the emotional core of the film, focused on the severed relationship between Maverick and Goose's son, set against a dangerous combat mission. The second focused on Maverick's current place in the Navy as part of the "Darkstar" program and the secrecy surrounding it. With Kosinski in place as director, "Only the Brave" (2017) screenwriter Eric Warren Singer boarded the film to rewrite the script by August 2017. In October 2018, McQuarrie, a frequent collaborator of Cruise, was brought in for rewrites during production. McQuarrie opted to mostly ignore the first film during the writing process and even flew with the Blue Angels in preparation. By January 2020, final screenplay credits were given to Ehren Kruger, Singer, and McQuarrie, while story credit was attributed to Craig and Marks.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Cruise's involvement in "Top Gun: Maverick" was first announced in January 2016. He was paid $13 million to star in the film, which was revised to over $100 million. Val Kilmer, now cancer-free, had campaigned on his Facebook page to reprise his role in the film. By June 2018, "TheWrap" reported that he would appear in the film. While Bruckheimer and the filmmakers wanted to bring Kilmer back, Cruise was the one who insisted the most in allowing Kilmer to reprise his role. A trailer released in March 2022, featured a photograph of Kilmer wearing a uniform of a four-star admiral. In July 2018, Miles Teller was cast in the role of Goose's son, against Nicholas Hoult and Glen Powell. All three were flown to Cruise's home for chemistry tests. Later that month, Jennifer Connelly joined the film's cast to play a single mother running a bar near the naval base.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: In August 2018, Powell joined the cast of the film in a pilot trainee role that was enlarged for him, having impressed Cruise, Bruckheimer, and executives at Paramount and Skydance Media, with his auditions. He was cast as the arrogant "Hangman", who was originally named "Slayer" when he first read the script. Powell was initially unimpressed at the prospect of taking the role, as he felt the character was a one-dimensional "dick garnish" and a "Navy Draco Malfoy" with no payoff nor reason to exist other than adding conflict to "Rooster"'s character arc, but Cruise, Bruckheimer, Kosinski and McQuarrie managed to convince him that he could shape his performance to make "Hangman" a more well-rounded character, with Cruise himself suggesting Powell that not all body languages work in global markets to ensure he could play "Hangman" in a way audiences would emotionally connect with the character. That same month, Monica Barbaro, Thomasin McKenzie, Charles Parnell, Jay Ellis, Bashir Salahuddin, Danny Ramirez, Ed Harris, Jon Hamm and Lewis Pullman joined the cast of the film with Barbaro, Pullman, Ellis, and Ramirez portraying aviator trainees, while McKenzie was planned to portray the daughter of Connelly's character.