(Source: Far Out / YouTube still image)
Merchandising is one of the many ways for actors to boost their bank accounts with the latest blockbuster, but Tom Cruise is apparently so rich that he doesn’t feel the need to have his face on a large number of official films.
Merchandise can be just as lucrative as the film it promotes. A notable example of this is the recent Power Rangers Reboot. Anyone of a certain generation remembers the show because it inspired them to kick their friends in the face on the playground, which meant they probably had the toys, too.
Dean Israelite’s grim, gloomy and boring reboot may have flopped at the box office, but it almost spawned a sequel, selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of merchandise. The film may be an empire of its own, and countless A-list celebrities would love to get a piece of it, but not Cruise.
Every big-name star who has appeared in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film receives a hefty check when toys, video games, clothing, and various household items bearing their likeness are offered for sale in stores and online marketplaces around the world, but there has never been any official Tom Cruise merchandise.
On the assembly line Mission: Impossible Treats, Top Shooter: Maverick Pieces of jewelry or even Les Grossman bobbleheads are a potential goldmine, but the above items can only be found through unlicensed means. Why? Because Cruise has always retained the rights to his own image and has never allowed a company to use it to make extra money.
He has one of the most recognizable faces on the planet, and every poster for a Cruise movie devotes most of the space to his face, so it’s not like he needs to remind people who he is. Still, it’s safe to assume that Paramount would have at least broached the possibility of a series of Mission: Impossible Merch, when the spy saga around the world is one of the most remarkable and profitable products in the industry.
J.J. Abrams’ Mission: Impossible III and Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds was used in the video game, but Cruise’s Ethan Hunt (Ray Ferrier) played no part in it. If anything, he was, as ever, ahead of his time, because what happens to an actor’s appearance when they’re no longer around to approve or object to its use has become one of the biggest talking points in town.
James Earl Jones was happy to hand over the voting rights for Darth Vader to an AI company, while a friend of Peter Cushing is currently taking legal action against Disney because Disney has used the late actor in the star Wars outsource, Villain One.
Tom Hanks is just one of many stars who have voiced their concerns about artificial intelligence, while Samuel L. Jackson carefully reads the fine print of his contracts to make sure he isn’t agreeing to have his image used without his consent. Cruise has held this attitude for decades, which is why there has never been any official merchandise featuring his signature wide grin.
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