Long before he was looking mortality in the eye, Cruise reigned supreme in the R-rated space

Way back before Tom Cruise was racking up franchises near the double digits and laughing in the face of God and morality as a typical Tuesday, he’d cut his teeth in edgy, explicit films like Jerry Maguire and Eyes Wide Shut. Now, he’s set to return to his roots.

According to his longtime collaborator Chris McQuarrie, who he recently made Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 with, there’s a script currently knocking about that could see him head back down the roads of American Made and Collateral, standalone films that labour on earthy violence and drama.

Here’s everything we know about Tom Cruise’s potential R-rated outing.

What is it about?

In an interview with Empire, McQuarrie detailed a script he’s been working on with his Dead Reckoning co-writer since 2020: “There’s a movie that Cruise and I are talking about doing next or in some probable next, that Erik and I developed together – what has been referred to on the internet as ‘The Gnarly Movie’. It’s that movie that they’re all asking for, and that we want to do.”

Cruise has made it his one-man mission over the last few years to get bums in cinema seats, probably rightfully and tragically prophesying that the way to keep the multiplexes open is with a steady stream of franchises and sequels – cue Top Gun: Maverick and two filmed Mission: Impossible movies back to back. However, it wasn’t long ago that Cruise saw the value in a good old-fashioned standalone. There was 2017’s American Made, 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow and 2013’s Oblivion. Beyond the action capers, as well, there was a time when he was happy to laugh off the Cruisiness of it all, all but shedding his perma-grin image for 2012’s Rock of Ages and 2007’s Tropic Thunder.

Now, with Barbenheimer potentially charting a course for films outside the rigid confines of cookie-cutter franchisedom, maybe it’s time for Cruise to take a well-earned break as the cinema saviour and return to his roots. Many may not remember him now as the mid-budget charm maestro, and it’s time to remind them.

When would this ‘Gnarly Movie’ be out?

Look, Cruise isn’t letting go of his cinema-saving crown just yet, and he’s still got an all-seeing AI mega-villain to fight off in the next Mission: Impossible film. It will probably be a while before we get Cruise’s return to the modest budget flick, but we wait with bated breath for him to skydive into it.