Forbes: Tom Cruise Is Highest-Paid Actor
The newly single star allegedly made $75 million over the last year, kicking Leonardo DiCaprio off the top slot.
| Posted Tuesday, July 3, 2012, at 4:57 PM
Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images
His love life may be on the rocks but at least he’s got plenty of cash in his wallet. Forbes released its annual list of 100 highest paid actors and the Mission: Impossible star is once again on top. It isn’t even close. The magazine claims Cruise, who is celebrating his 50th birthday Tuesday, raked in $75 million between May 2001 and May 2012. That’s more than twice what Leonardo DiCaprio, last year’s top earner, made. DiCaprio tied with comedian Adam Sandler for second place with $37 million each.
Cruise’s year was particularly profitable thanks to Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, which earned a whopping $700 million. Entertainment Weekly points out there are several new faces on the list, including Dwayne Johnson, who came in fourth with $36 million, and Sacha Baron Cohen, who is in sixth place with $30 million.
Meanwhile, legal experts tell the Los Angeles Times Cruise would be better off if divorce proceedings are moved from New York to California because courts there tend to favor joint custody. It might not be that difficult for him to get the move considering the couple lives most of the time in the Golden State.
And while some insist the couple might reach an out-of-court agreement, sources continue to say Scientology was at the heart of Katie Holmes’ decision to file for divorce, claiming she was concerned about the role it would play in how their child would be raised. The New York Post had earlier claimed that Holmes reportedly felt she was being followed by Scientologists as part of a “heavy-handed intimidation attempt.”
The Chicago Sun-Times also hears word that Holmes wasn’t happy with Cruise’s apparent lack of interest in her career.






