In his new film, Mission: Impossible Showdown - First Part, we can admire a never-before-seen, naturally life-threatening stunt.
One of Tom Cruise's trademarks is that he himself performs the stunts in his films, which become more and more reckless with each production. At the beginning, the studio bosses were tearing their hair out, since the existence of the entire film could be endangered if the star was injured or even lost his life during filming.
Then the math won out: Cruise's movies bring in such a high amount of money - the Mission: Impossible franchise has so far earned $3.5 billion - that the risk is worth it, and Hollywood's biggest action star prepares so thoroughly for each stunt that at best he breaks his ankle when he jumps. from one rooftop to another. (This happened five years ago on the set of Mission: Impossible – Aftermath.)
That's all well and good, but it begs the question: how much does it cost to insure Cruise when the risk is so high?
Newsweek tried to find out about this, especially considering that in Cruise's new movie, Mission: Impossible - Showdown - Part One, he performs a stunt that has never been seen before, and of course is life-threatening.
The news magazine contacted Marc Federman, a principal at San Francisco-based Epic Insurance Brokers & Consultants, who has been dealing with insurance matters for Hollywood films for decades. The specialist could not say the exact amount, as it is a trade secret, but he undertook an estimate anyway. As he said, securing the crew of a film is usually 3 percent of the budget.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout - Part 1 cost $291 million to make, so the insurance is $9.7 million. According to Federman, it is clear that Cruise's insurance accounts for a "significant part" of said amount, i.e. several million dollars, especially if you consider that the star is also the producer of the film.
The first reviews of Mission: Impossible Showdown Part One are very favorable, the film has a 96 percent rating on the Rottentomatoes review portal. According to industry estimates, together with the second part to be seen next year, the total revenue may be around 1.5 billion dollars, with which the franchise may cross the dream limit of 5 billion dollars.
Featured image: Don Arnold/WireImage/Getty Images
