does tom cruise play video games

Why Tom Cruise Refuses To Allow His Likeness To Be Made Into Toys Or Video Games

Despite being one of the world's biggest action stars, Tom Cruise refuses to allow his likeness to be used for video games and toys.

Tom Cruise refuses to allow his likeness to be used for video games or toys. Cruise has acted in numerous action films, including the Mission: Impossible franchise. Because of this, it might surprise some fans to learn that the A-lister won't allow toys or video games to be made using him, or one of his characters, for inspiration.

Related: Tom Cruise Used To Spy On Movie Theater Audiences Just To See Their Reactions To His Films

Some celebrities might make over-the-top requests to appear in a film or TV show, for performances, appearances, and plenty of other things. Other demands are more understanding, depending on the type of work a star is doing. Despite the numerous amount of blockbuster films Tom Cruise has made, he doesn't allow his likeness to be used for certain merchandise. Why does Tom Cruise refuse to allow his likeness be used for video games and toys?

What Other Demands Does Tom Cruise Have When He Is Working?

Plenty of top celebrities will make certain demands before they agree to working on a certain project. Some of these requests have seemed ridiculous, and some celebrities have even been told "no" when they've made certain demands .

Some of the requests Tom Cruise has had throughout the years have been pretty surprising . However, other demands he has on-set while filming are understandable. For example, the Risky Business actor completely cuts sugar from his diet when he's preparing for a film.

This makes sense, considering Cruise does a lot of stunt work. However, he also sends cake to all of his co-stars. During an interview with James Corden, he explained his reason for sending cakes to his fellow cast members of Mission: Impossible .

"I love sugar, but I can't eat it because when I'm training, I'm doing all these movies - so I send it to everyone. I wait for the calls. Like, tell me about it!" It seems when Cruise isn't able to indulge in sweets, he at least tries to enjoy them through his castmates.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Annabelle Wallis "claimed that Tom Cruise made his co-stars run behind him at all times." However, Wallis says she was able to get Cruise to break that rule while the two of them were filming The Mummy .

Related: What Has Tom Cruise Said About His Most Dangerous Stunt?

Cruise also wears thong underwear for his action sequences and for stunts. According to the Daily Star, one source claims he wears them for "comfort and flexibility." The source also claimed The Minority Report actor is "pretty insistent about having a new thong every time."

Cruise continues to demand that his likeness isn't to be used for any video games or toys. Until the Mission: Impossible actor changes his mind (if he ever does), fans are able to enjoy plenty of other video games and toys using the likeness of some of their favorite actors and characters.

Why Does Tom Cruise Refuse To Allow His Likeness To Be Used For Video Games And Toys?

Many celebrities have some surprising clauses in their contracts , including Tom Cruise. Certain demands that top stars have made can be outrageous. A top action star for decades, Cruise has played, and continues to play, some of the most memorable characters in the genre.

Some of his most iconic action roles include Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible franchise. Another of his famous characters returned in 2022. Cruise played Pete "Maverick" Mitchell first in 1986's Top Gun .

He returned to the character over three decades later in the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick - which made around $1.4 billion worldwide. However, despite his undoubted success in his action films, there are no video games or toys that have been made with The Firm actor's likeness using his approval.

There are some dolls and other toys out there based on Tom Cruise's characters that have been created by fans, but none of these are official merchandise.

Related: These Tom Cruise Movies Have Grossed Over $100 Million At The Box Office

According to Unilad, "This is because of a particular clause which doesn't allow Cruise's likeness to be used to make any merchandise. Which means anything that would feature Cruise's face, like toys and video games, would be off the table."

Some celebrities might choose not to have their likeness used for video games and/or toys for several reasons, including personal ones. However, there are many stars who have allowed companies to use their images, likeness and voices for toys and video games.

Which Celebrities Have Allowed Their Likenesses To Be Used For Video Games And/Or Toys?

Some celebrities are interested in business ventures as well as working in the industry. Several stars have also allowed companies to use their likenesses for video games and toys . Some celebrities are also big fans of video games, comics books, etc.

In 2015, Mattel released a Barbie doll that used Zendaya's look from the 2015 Oscars. According to Today, Michelle Chidoni, a Mattel spokesperson, said, "She's a role model who is focused on standing up for yourself, your culture, and for what you believe in - that's very relevant for girls."

Keanu Reeves, like Tom Cruise, is a star known for his iconic roles in numerous action films. His likeness, and some of his characters, have appeared in several video games, including Fortnite , Constantine , and The Matrix: Path of Neo . In Grand Theft Auto IV , both Ricky Gervais and Katt Williams "voice fictional versions of themselves as stand-up comedians".

Hopefully, Tom Cruise will change his mind one day soon. If so, fans might be able to play some exciting new video games, or collect certain action figures instead of creating them for themselves.

Video Games Are One 'Mission' Tom Cruise Won't Accept

The guy in the red cape, Professor X's favorite mutants and even the folks searching for biblical codes are all getting video games this summer. But there's one Hollywood summer action hero who won't be appearing on a PlayStation near you anytime soon: "Mission Impossible" 's Ethan Hunt.

There is no "Mission: Impossible III" home console game due this summer or even in the planning stages, relegating the only "M:i:III" gaming option to a cell phone one that launches May 5, the same day as the movie.

So why would "The Da Vinci Code" get a PS2 game and not "M:i:III"?

Answering that question is not a mission anyone has chosen to accept just yet. A representative for Paramount Pictures, the studio behind the movie, offered no official comment by press time beyond a confirmation that, indeed, no console game is in the works.

This marks the second straight year when a Paramount blockbuster-to-be is conspicuously skipping out on console gaming. Last year's no-show was "War of the Worlds," a sci-fi hit that would seemingly have fit a gaming market that featured another 2005 aliens vs. humans epic, "Destroy All Humans."

The common link between both movies isn't just the studio behind them, but their star: Tom Cruise. He has never appeared in a video game or even on the box art for a game, neither for 1987's "Top Gun" NES game nor the 2006 game based on the same movie, not for the one "Mission: Impossible" game released since Cruise began starring in the movie series, and not in 2002's "Minority Report." In that game, Cruise's character was made to look so unlike him that he was blond.

Famous people sometimes don't lend their likenesses to video games for business or personal reasons, though they seldom publicly explain why. Al Pacino's representatives have declined in the past to comment about why the actor wasn't included in last year's "The Godfather" game (he will appear in this year's "Scarface," however). Tom Hanks doesn't appear in the forthcoming "Da Vinci Code" game, though, like Pacino's Michael Corleone in "The Godfather," his actual character will appear in the game. When asked why gamers haven't been able to ever play a game as Tom Cruise and if they can hope to control his likeness in the future, the actor's agent declined to comment.

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But if 2K Games is willing to publish a "Da Vinci Code" game without Hanks' face to render, why wouldn't someone make a "M:i:III" without Cruise? That's actually just what Atari did in 2004 with "Mission: Impossible: Operation Surma," a game that was released during the six-year gap between "M:i:II" in 2000 and this year's film. "Surma," which starred an Ethan Hunt that did not look like Tom Cruise, self-destructed with critics and consumers.

That wasn't the first "M:I" gaming mishap. A 1998 Nintendo 64 "Mission: Impossible" game was once touted as a more promising title than that console's "GoldenEye" game. "GoldenEye" turned out to be one of the most successful video games of all time. "Mission: Impossible," shipping more than a year late, was panned and sold poorly.

Both games were made by Atari, which no longer has the "Mission: Impossible" license, according to a spokesman for the company.

There is little doubt that the impossible missions of "Mission: Impossible" would make for a good video game, but Michael Pachter, an analyst who covers video games for Wedbush Morgan Securities, pointed out that movie titles still carry a hefty risk. "Royalty rates for movie titles are generally high," he said. "It takes a great deal of confidence in the sales prospects to commit to the game. 'Catwoman' was a bust, 'Batman' a modest success. So it's not clear that a 'M:i:III' game would sell well, especially if the main character was blond."

Whatever the reason for companies to limit movie games from hitting consoles, it turns out that "M:i:III" isn't alone. If it once seemed that every action movie might make it to a console, consider the summer's "Miami Vice." That game is also eschewing consoles (but will appear as a fully featured game on PSP). When asked why that game is coming out just for Sony's handheld and not for its console, the game's producer, Chuck Cuevas, said in an e-mailed statement: "When we considered the PSP's capabilities (games, music, movies, etc.), it was a perfect fit for the 'Miami Vice' audience. We also saw value in focusing on a specific platform we knew would fit the gameplay well, rather than developing across multiple platforms."

For "M:i:III," the sole platform will be cell phones. The game is being created by Gameloft, a leading producer of mobile games that recently announced a deal with Paris Hilton (see [article id="1528815"]"Wanna Get Paris Hilton On The Phone?"[/article]). (Gameloft also created a "War of the Worlds" game last year.) The "M:i:III" game will feature Cruise's name in its logo, but the pixelated Ethan Hunt scrunched onto cell phone screens isn't designed to look like him. The game features nine levels of "M:I" style shooting, running and hacking action with, according to the game's fact sheet, "story lines and surroundings that are inspired by the film."

The mystery of the missing "M:i:III" console game may not be ready to be solved yet, but there are makeshift solutions for gamers jonesing for a Tom Cruise-based console experience:

The "M:i:III" production does list Xbox as a sponsor, and that's because the high-definition trailer of the movie was initially released to Xbox 360s over Xbox Live. So "M:i:III" can appear on game consoles already, if only in movie form and as proof that it's not impossible for console owners to see Tom Cruise on their screens.

See everything we've got on "Mission: Impossible III."

Check out [article id="1488131"] movies.MTV.com [/article] for Hollywood news, photos, reviews, interviews and more.

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Breaking point: why Tom Cruise is living a mission impossible

Analysis: A leaked recording of the movie star yelling at crew on his latest blockbuster is not evidence of tyranny, but the extraordinary strain of keeping the huge undertaking afloat

It is a lonely business, being a Tom Cruise fan in 2020. The heel lifts, the way his arms pump when he runs (nobody runs like Tom Cruise), his Dorian Gray looks: I love Cruise for all of it, and yet I’m aware this is a deeply unfashionable opinion, and one I’m often called on to defend at dinner parties. And so it befalls me, as Cruise’s solitary champion, to step to his aid now, like Ethan Hunt in a tuxedo taking on a posse of earpiece-wearing hitmen, as behind him an orchestra plays Nessun Dorma.

Earlier this week, The Sun released leaked audio of Cruise berating the crew of Mission: Impossible 7, which is filming at the Warner Bros Studio in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, for breaking Covid safety protocols. “If I see you do it again,” yelled Cruise at two crew members he’d spotted standing within two metres of each other, “you’re fucking gone. And if anyone in this crew does it, that’s it – and you too, and you too. And you, don’t you ever fucking do it again.”

Cruise, who is producing and starring in the blockbuster, went on: “I’m on the phone with every fucking studio at night! Insurance companies! Producers! And they’re looking at us and using us to make their movies. We are creating thousands of jobs you motherfuckers! I don’t ever want to see it again. Ever! And if you don’t do it, you’re fired. No apologies. You can tell it to the people who are losing their fucking homes, because our industry is shut down. It’s not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education. That’s what I sleep with every night – the future of this fucking industry!”

Clearly Cruise lost his temper, and it was wrong for him to shout at the crew. But – and this is a pretty colossal but – Cruise is under a phenomenal amount of pressure right now, the sort of pressure that would get to anyone, even Hollywood megastars who audition their future girlfriends on private jets. Listening to the rant, what I heard was not a tyrannical producer who likes to bully his subordinates out of a sense of personal vindictiveness, but a man under a near-inhuman amount of stress. Although he used profane language, Cruise wasn’t derogatory: he didn’t call the crew morons, or scream personal insults. This wasn’t a racist or sexist rant: it was a stern telling-off from someone who goes to bed at night worrying about the hundreds of people whose jobs rely upon him.

When Cruise spoke about spending every evening on the phone to insurance companies, trying to keep the Mission: Impossible 7 set running, I felt sorry for him. The actor George Clooney, himself a director and producer, defended Cruise after the story broke. Speaking on The Howard Stern Show, Clooney said: “He [Cruise] didn’t overreact, because it [breaking safety protocols] is a problem … [He’s] in a position of power and it’s tricky, right?” Clooney added: “If production goes down, a lot of people lose their jobs. People have to understand that and be responsible.”

Running a film set in the middle of a global pandemic makes rappelling down the Burj Khalifa (Cruise’s most famous stunt) look a breeze – I know which one I’d rather do, and I’m terrified of heights. Hardly any movies are filming right now, because it’s simply too expensive: the chances that one of the hundreds of people on set will contract Covid at some point, causing production to shut down, are too high. Every day a set is closed costs producers tens of thousands of pounds.

As Cruise rightly observed during his rant: “People who are losing their fucking homes, because our industry is shut down.” Industry bible Variety estimates that 465,000 people were out of work in Hollywood this year, owing to Covid; in the UK, the figure was estimated at around 50,000 . In addition to these woes, Hollywood is reckoning with the existential challenge posed by streaming platforms, which has been accelerated by the pandemic. In a sign of which way the wind is blowing, WarnerMedia recently released its entire 2021 film slate to streaming services, to the consternation of The Suicide Squad director James Gunn, and Tenet director Christopher Nolan.

It’s only through Cruise’s superhuman will power, deep pockets, and personal clout that the Mission: Impossible 7 set is even running at all. Cruise reportedly shelled out £500,000 of his own money for two cruise ships to house workers safely during filming. “Tom is determined not to see any more hold-ups,” a source explained at the time to the Sun . In addition to keeping the Mission: Impossible 7 set going – providing employment to hundreds of people – Cruise has also been generous in support of other directors. In August 2020, he filmed himself attending Tenet at the Waterloo Imax in London, to reassure people that cinemagoing was safe. (Looking very fetching in a tight black jumper and colour-coordinated respirator mask as he did – only Cruise could make PPE look so manly .)

Before, Cruise has urged audiences to turn off the “motion smoothing” on their TV sets. (While he was in his Top Gun costume – I swooned.) Motion smoothing is a technique used to improve the quality of high-definition sport, which is now increasingly offered as standard in high-definition TV sets. It makes films look rubbish: naff, and like soap operas. Cruise is an old-school movie star, in the best possible way, and he wants to preserve the magic of cinema as an experience, even if audiences are watching his films at home, in their pants, on their brand-new tellies. Because if Tom Cruise is going to hang off a cargo plane while it takes off for your entertainment, the least you can do is fix the settings on your TV.

Cruise is, by all accounts, not a systematic bully. He does not usually tyrannise his crew. Few negative stories emerge about his conduct on set. Brett Ratner , he is not. Cruise can be challenging to work with – he is famously a perfectionist, as tough on himself as he is on others – but he is not cruel. Speaking to Vulture last July , his former co-star in Mission: Impossible 2, Thandie Newton, recounted an experience in which Cruise asked her to reshoot a scene dozens of times, because he wasn’t happy with her performance. “It was a real shame,” Newton says, “and bless him … because he was trying his damnedest.” Newton said that Cruise “tries super-hard to be a nice person. But the pressure – he takes on a lot.”

If you’re looking for a person who’s singlehandedly trying to save a movie business that’s on its knees, gun pointed at its head, Cruise is your man. But every man has his limits, and it seems that Cruise has finally found his. And who could blame him? Making a film during Covid – that’s mission impossible. Even Ethan Hunt has a breaking point.

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The Great Mission: Impossible Movies Deserve A Great New Game

It’s been 20 damn years since the last mission: impossible game came out on ps2.

The fuse has been lit and the mission has been accepted. That’s right folks, it’s time for a new Mission: Impossible film. The latest entry in the popular action franchise is out now in theaters . But if this new film has you all excited about the franchise again and you want to play a Mission: Impossible video game, well, bad news: It’s been 20 years since the last one. That’s not cool. It’s time for a new MI game!

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The Mission: Impossible franchise technically started as a spy-themed television series from the 1960s , which got a sequel series in the ‘80s. But when most people talk about the Mission Impossible franchise in 2023, they are likely referring to the long-running action film franchise starring Tom Cruise that has grown into something much larger and over-the-top than the old TV shows. These films, which began in 1996, typically showcase Cruise risking his life in at least three or four large stunts and also, bizarrely, have only gotten better with each release. A globe-trotting action-adventure franchise that makes tons of money, is loved by critics, and has a massive fanbase seems like ideal material for a video game adaptation. Oddly, that’s not been the case.

Since the beginning of the franchise, only five Mission: Impossible video games have been released . (Confusingly, four of them are just named Mission: Impossible .) The first game launched in 1990 for the NES. The second game was released the following year for DOS. These two were based on the 1980s sequel series that aired on ABC.

Then in 1998, two years after the first Tom Cruise film, another Mission: Impossible game launched on the Nintendo 64. This one has some fans, and played a lot like a third-person spin on Rare’s popular GoldenEye 007 game . Two years after that, right before the second film hit theaters, a very short and not-good Mission: Impossible game landed on Game Boy Color. However, this game did include a neat feature that let players use the Game Boy as a remote control.

Finally, in 2003, Mission: Impossible — Operation Surma launched on PlayStation 2 and later GameCube. This third-person action-adventure spy-thriller takes place between the events of Mission: Impossible II and the third film, but is also never directly referenced in the films and doesn’t even feature the likeness of Tom Cruise. It was essentially a Metal Gear Solid/Splinter Cell clone and in 2023 has been mostly forgotten, like the rest of the MI video games.

It’s time for a new Mission: Impossible video game

And…that’s it! After 2003, we stopped getting new Mission: Impossible games. I understand that the film series hit a six-year lull between the second and third, but since 2011’s Ghost Protocol , this franchise has only gotten bigger and better with each entry. 2018’s Mission: Impossible Fallout is probably the best film in the series, and the latest one, Dead Reckoning Part One , has a 96 on Rotten Tomatoes and will likely be a massive hit.

And yet, even as the franchise grows bigger and bigger, no new video games are on the horizon. What a shame! So many moments in recent MI films feel almost like setpieces from AAA video games of the last decade. It makes sense to me that this series would translate well into a modern video game.

I understand that over the last decade or so, we’ve stopped getting crappy games based on popular films. And I’ve been mostly fine with that, as the vast majority of games based on films were awful and not worth playing. Then again, we are getting a new 007 game from the Hitman devs, and a new Avatar one from Ubisoft, so it’s not like games based on movies are impossible to make these days.

And I think a Mission: Impossible game—if done right and given enough time and resources—could be amazing. Honestly, a game where you just recreate all the famous and dangerous stunts from the films would be great, like a new Stuntman but based entirely on Mission: Impossible scenes. Actually, it’s been a long time since we got a good Stuntman game, too.

Okay, new plan: Someone convince the right people to fund the development of a new Stuntman -like game based on Tom Cruise’s wildest Mission: Impossible stunts. That’s the game I want. Thank you.

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Tom Cruise Won't Do Games?

Stephen Totilo at MTV News does some digging into why Tom Cruise seems reluctant to star in video games . He wasn't a part of the Top Gun game, nor Mission Impossible, nor Minority Report. What's the deal? Is there something in the laws of Scientology? I'd make a wittier crack but you don't really have to with Scientology. You just say it three times* and it's guaranteed comedy.

*Scientology

Jennifer M. Wood

Angela Watercutter

Eric Ravenscraft

The Untold Truth Of Tom Cruise

When Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , as his folks called him, appeared alongside fellow young guns Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, and Ralph Macchio in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Outsiders" in 1983, few would have earmarked the 21-year-old for world-beating success. His bit part as greaser Steve Randle was pedestrian at best. Yet in his next film, "Risky Business," Cruise pulled out all the stops in his first lead role. This laid the foundation stone for a career that would see him take off into the stratosphere like an F14 Tomcat. Three years later, Cruise became a household name thanks to his career-defining role as the troubled but lovable rouge Maverick in "Top Gun." A star was born and it's been lighting up the hills of Hollywood like a champagne supernova ever since.

Fast forward to three Golden Globes, three Academy Award nominations, and a portfolio of record-breaking blockbuster films later, and one of the world's highest-paid actors is pretty much in cruise control. Yet behind that dazzling smile of porcelain perfection, the trademark shades, and the happy-go-lucky demeanor, there's always been a lot more to Cruise than meets the eye. His relationship with Scientology and his more bizarre public outbursts may have ruined a lesser celeb, but with Cruise, they just serve to make him more star-like. If you're going to go Mach 2 with your hair on fire, you might as well do it in style. It's time to throw caution to the wind, buzz the tower, and fly right into the calm at the center of the storm that is the untold truth of Tom Cruise.

Cruise attended a lot of different schools and was bullied regularly

Starting a new school is a big deal for any young and impressionable kid. Learning to cope in a new environment, making new friends, fitting in, sussing out the bullies, and assessing the lay of the land is pretty exhausting stuff. Yet imagine having to attend 13 different schools when growing up? Tom Cruise did and all that adapting to being the new kid on the block must have left its mark on his character! In an interview with Roger Ebert , Cruise confessed that his early life lacked stability. He was born in Syracuse and lived in various cities in America and Canada. During third, fourth, and fifth grade, he attended Robert Hopkins Public School in Ottawa. His time in sixth grade was spent at Henry Munro Middle school where his resilience, determination, and competitive character manifested themselves in his talent for floor hockey and athletics.

He later became a football linebacker in high school but, after he was caught downing beer before a game, the coach called time on his burgeoning career. Cruise has revealed that his family's financial status and habit of continually relocating led to him being bullied when young. He said that he was mocked by the other kids because of his accent, his shoes, and pretty much everything else. After a stint at seminary school in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cruise finally graduated from Glen Ridge High School in New Jersey, with a strong interest in acting that had been blossoming like a promising bloom since the fourth grade.

He was diagnosed as a dyslexic aged 7

When Cruise finally closed the door on his academic life in 1980, according to People , he described himself as a "functional illiterate." Cruise explained, "When I was about 7 years old, I had been labeled dyslexic. I'd try to concentrate on what I was reading, then I'd get to the end of the page and have very little memory of anything I'd read. I would go blank, feel anxious, nervous, bored, frustrated, and dumb. I would get angry." Throughout school and well into his career, Cruise said he felt like he was harboring a secret. He explained how his head ached and his legs hurt when he attempted to study and was desperate to keep his dyslexia hidden with every new school he attended.

As an aspiring actor, Cruise's frustration with his condition reached boiling point. Reading scripts and memorizing lines was the bread and butter of his craft, but it was something his dyslexia prevented him from mastering. Cruise compensated for his inability to read scripts cold at auditions by getting the director to talk about the character and winging it. "I got pretty good at ad-libbing," he revealed. Yet he could only carry on flying by the seat of his pants for so long because in his own words, "the trapdoor was going to open up and that would be it." Cruise credits his introduction to Scientology during the release of "Top Gun" in 1986 as the remedy to his dyslexia. He states he finally learned to read through Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's Study Technology learning method.

Cruise described his dad as an abusive bully

Tom Cruise told Parade (via the Irish Examiner ) that his father, Thomas Cruise Mapother III was a "bully and coward" and "a merchant of chaos." Cruise added that his father, who was an electrical engineer, caused him a great deal of anxiety during his formative years. He explained, "He was the kind of person where if something goes wrong they kick you. It was a great lesson in my life — how he'd lull you in, make you feel safe, and then, bang."

Cruise states he grew up not trusting his father and treading extremely carefully around a guy he thought had something wrong with him. In 1974, when Cruise was 12, his mother Mary Lee divorced his dad. Cruise's mother and her children left Canada and returned to the United States, where she married Cruise's stepfather Jack South. Cruise didn't see his father again until 10 years later, when the man was dying of cancer in the hospital. The elder Cruise would only meet his son on the provision that the younger Cruise didn't ask him anything about the past. The actor agreed and recalled, "When I saw him in pain, I thought, 'Wow, what a lonely life.' He was in his late 40s. It was sad."

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services .

Tom's world-famous teeth have their own story to tell

If there's one thing Tom Cruise is famous for, apart from his acting chops, it's his teeth. Cruise's pearly whites aren't that of the average Joe — they have a life of their own in their dazzling, world-conquering brilliance. However, according to Closer , if you study photos of Cruise's teeth closely, you'll notice they are not perfectly aligned with the center of his face. His right front tooth juts out of position somewhat and is often branded his "middle tooth."

Not that this imperfection will bother Cruise any. The actor messed up his front tooth in high school when it chipped during a hockey match from a wayward puck. He later removed the cap for his part in "The Outsiders" to portray a character with a less than a wholesome smile. Yet according to co-star Patrick Swayze (per Stuff ), Cruise was extremely self-conscious about his teeth at the time, to the point he turned down magazine photoshoots. Whatever concerns Cruise may have had about his teeth were laid to rest for good in 2001. In the wake of his split from Nicole Kidman, Closer reports that Cruise decided to fix his overbite and misalignment issues with some braces.

He once wanted to be a priest

Father Tom has something of a ring to it, and perhaps some amongst us would be confessing our sins to Priest Mapother IV if Cruise has followed his first calling and become a man of the cloth. Yet God's loss is Hollywood's gain. According to  The Daily News , Cruise applied to attend Cincinnati's St Francis Seminary School on the advice of Father Ric Schneider, who explained, "With his parents going through a divorce, it was tough on him, that's maybe one of the reasons why he came here." The teenage Tom scored 110 on the IQ entry test and just gained admission by the skin of his teeth. Cruise showed particular promise in the school's drama club, but according to his friend Shane Dempler, the pair of them both heard the spirit calling and were preparing for a life in the priesthood.

Dempler told The Daily News, "We thought the priests had a great lifestyle and we were really interested in the priesthood." Yet the hand of the unseen works in mysterious ways and although he possessed a strong Catholic faith, Cruise was a teenage boy and prone to all the antics that attract teenagers like honey to bees. Drinking alcohol and cutting loose wasn't exactly condoned by the school. Subsequently, when Cruise and his mate stole some booze from the monks and made merry, it didn't sit well with the powers that be. Dempler alleges that the seminary asked their parents to withdraw them both and the dream of becoming priests turned to dust.

His acting career was born from a wrestling injury

After deciding that saying "Hail Mary" a lot, continually crossing himself, and rocking a predominantly black wardrobe wasn't for him, Tom Cruise appeared to decide that rolling about on the floor and grunting a lot was where it was at. In other words, he became a wrestler. The Daily Mail reports that during his tenure at New Jersey's Glen Ridge High School, Cruise earned a solid rep as a teenage wrestler who could grapple, pin, and showboat with the best of them. Cruise is renowned as an action man who likes to get stuck in and it all began on the wrestling mat. His former wrestling captain, Tom Jarret aka TJ, explained that Cruise had a tough time arriving at the school from Kentucky as a fresh-faced 15-year-old, and so he channeled his aggression into wrestling.

TJ told The Daily Mail, "He had times when he was struggling to be accepted. With wrestling, you made your own mark. He deserves all his success. He was always a real go-getter, but a good guy. I've not got a bad word to say about Tom." Interestingly, TJ's father didn't have a good word to say about Cruise and once told his son, "Stop hanging out with that guy. He's not doing anything with his life." It was whilst recovering from a wrestling injury that Cruise decided to take a punt on an audition for "Guys and Dolls." Cruise landed a key role in the high-school musical and it convinced him that religion and sport were all well and good, but it was on the stage where his true destiny lay.

He performs his own stunts

When it comes to playing men of action, such as special agent Ethan Hunt from the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, Cruise likes to walk it like he talks it and go all in. Leaping through plate glass windows and riding motorcycles off cliffs is all in a day's work for Cruise, who loves performing his own stunts. The thought of not going out on a limb is more terrifying than breaking one for Cruise, who busted up his ankle performing an action sequence on the set of "Mission: Impossible — Fallout." As a huge box-office draw who also does his own stunts, Cruise is the last of a dying breed. Cruise's stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood told Men's Journal  that the actor relishes the role because, "He loves making these films, and he wants the audience to love them as well."

Eastwood explains that, although many actors will brag about how capable they are behind the wheel of a supercar, they fall to pieces once they're in the hot seat and struggle to even shift gears. Yet he believes Cruise was born to live in the fast lane and said, "His skills levels are through the roof. He is incredibly capable. He can do it all. When we are doing these stunts with Tom, we are not just talking about a fast pull away. This is a level that requires a lot of talent, more than I would say any other actor has. He is almost to the point where he is dangerously good."

He strictly forbids Tom Cruise figurines or video games

When you possess the sort of face that is instantly recognizable the world, one capable of selling everything from souvenir china to novelty t-shirts, it's only natural that people will want to exploit your likeness for a quick buck. Yet, don't expect that to happen on Tom Cruise's watch. The actor with the face that has launched multi-million dollar box office successes in succession is allegedly strictly adamant that his likeness will not appear in any video games. Nor will he allow it to appear on the tiny and somewhat unsettling faces of figurines that come in plastic packaging.

MTV News reports that the NES "Top Gun" game released in 1987, and the "Mission: Impossible" game were created without Cruise's likeness in pixels or on the cover art. In the "Minority Report" game released in 2002, Cruise's character is blond and looks a million miles removed from the actor. The reason why Cruise has not capitalized on his world-famous looks has never been properly explained. His agent has always declined to comment on his client's decision and Cruise has learned long ago that the motto of "never apologize, never explain" carries its own weight in free publicity. So if you're holding out for a Tom Cruise doll this holiday season, forget about it!

In Japan, they have a Tom Cruise Day

You know you've finally arrived on the world stage when a country names a day in your honor. It's the sort of accolade that money just can't buy, but being a Hollywood actor definitely can, just ask Tom Cruise! Hollywood.com reports that "The Last Samurai" star was awarded his special day in Japan because of his close ties and long-term affection for the country. Cruise has visited the Land of the Rising Sun more than any other actor and always ensures he has time to share with his legion of adoring fans. Digital Spy reports that The Japanese Memorial Day Association chose to allocate October 10 as "Tom Cruise Day" in 2006 because of the actor's "love for and close association with Japan."

According to the Filipino Japanese Journal , Cruise made his 23rd visit to Japan in 2018 to promote "Mission: Impossible — Fallout." At a press conference, he revealed the love Japan has for him is no one-way street. He enthused, "It's so great to be back in Japan. It's just amazing to me. I feel very at home here. It's always fast (my trips) but thank you for the warm smile this evening, for the lovely gifts, and always for the wonderful conversations. I'm very honored. Thank you."

Cruise allegedly uses a strange concoction for his youthful good looks

He once played immortal bloodsucker Lestat de Lioncourt in "Interview With The Vampire." However, Tom Cruise's secret behind his permanently youthful good looks isn't the drinking of blood. He has extremely focused nutrition and training plan — with, allegedly, a little help from a good old-fashioned bird droppings.  Men's Health reports that Cruise credits weightlifting, sea-kayaking, treadmill, rock-climbing, caving, and a whole host of other activities to stay in shape and keep the ravages of father time from his door. Sports scientist Anne Elliott explained, "Regularly switching up cardio and strength work with something like fencing or climbing – like Cruise – maintains flexibility and balance: the first two things that give your age away."

An anonymous source supposedly near Cruise told NOW Magazine (via  The Daily Mail ) that the secret to Cruise's glowing complexion and radiant skin is an expensive spa treatment that has its origins in nightingale droppings. The source claims that Cruise shuns botox and surgery, but he does have a soft spot for natural treatments, like the kind that can be found in the excrement of our feathered friends. Adherents of the unusual treatment claim that it works as an exfoliant to extract the dirt and leave one's face feeling shiny and bright.

Cruise is a real-life Maverick

Looking effortlessly cool on a Kawasaki Ninja ZX900, and giving the 'bird' to a MiG whilst flying inverted are just some of the reasons why audiences fell in love with Tom Cruise's character in "Top Gun." His manifold issues with authority, terrible karaoke performances, and flair in a cockpit won a watching world over. "Maverick" is a larger-than-life character who knows his way around a joystick-like nobody's business. Yet there is more than just a dash and splash of Cruise in this fictional hero of the skies.

The actor has been in love with the idea of flying jets since he was young, but it wasn't until he appeared in "Top Gun" in 1986 that he gave serious thought to getting his pilot license. In 1994 he received his wings and in a subsequent interview with Wired revealed he was a multi-engine instrument-rated commercial pilot. In plain speak that means Cruise could legally fly you anywhere in the world in a plane or helicopter. In "Top Gun: Maverick," Cruise lives the dream and flies some of the jets in the movie. Yet it's not the first time Cruise has been airborne on the big screen. In "American Made," and "Mission: Impossible — Fallout" he does some crazy things in a helicopter. According to World War Wings , Cruise also owns a World War II fighter, P-51 Mustang a $20M Gulfstream with its own jacuzzi and movie room. Beat that, Mav!

Cruise once saved a woman from being mugged in London

It must be hard for actors to live up to some of the heroic characters they play on the big screen. Yet Tom Cruise came close to being a real-life Ethan Hunt when he chased down a gang of muggers who were in the act of trying to part a lady with $153,000 of her jewelry. The Scottish Daily Record reports that when Cruise's neighbor, Rita Simmonds, arrived outside of her $8 million London home she was approached by two unsavory characters. They pulled the door of her Porsche open and attempted to drag her to the curb in front of her two-year-old daughter Sophie, who was sitting in the back. One of the assailants screamed, "Give us your jewelry, or we will kill you." The man then proceeded to beat her, whilst the other attempted to rip the jewelry from her person.

Rita Simmonds cried for help, and her pleas caught the ears of none other than Cruise who dashed out of his Regent's Park apartment. Flanked by his bodyguards, Cruise charged down the road, chasing off the muggers and saving the day. Rita Simmonds explained, "Tom was brilliant. He rushed down the road with his bodyguards and chased the attackers away." When asked about the mugging, a spokesperson for Cruise explained, "He does not want to talk about this. He does like to help people but he likes to keep it quiet."

Cruise almost played Iron Man

Visualizing anyone else in the role of Tony Stark whose name isn't Robert Downey Jr seems like blasphemy. It's not easy to be cool and witty whilst flying around in a constricting tin suit but Robert Downey Jr does it with aplomb and a flair that's tough to beat. Nevertheless, it would have been interesting to see what dynamic Tom Cruise would have brought to the role of the billionaire arms dealer with questionable facial hair. The Indian Express reports that Marvel Studios had earmarked Cruise as the first choice to play Iron Man. They believed he was a lot more of a box-office draw than Downey Jr. Yet Cruise turned down the opportunity to ignite the Marvel cinematic universe because he didn't think the role would work.

Cruise explained, "If I commit to something, it has to be done in a way that I know it's gonna be something special. And as it was lining up it just didn't feel to me like it was gonna work." Cruise later added that no one but Downey Jr could have done the character justice. "Iron Man" director Jon Favreau battled studio executives hard for Downey to play the role, claiming the actor would effortlessly connect with a character who shared a similar redemption story.

Disney used Cruise's image as the prototype for Aladdin

Tom Cruise's portrayal of Maverick in "Top Gun" made such a powerful impression on many in the audience that it led to an upsurge in recruitment for the U.S. Navy. It also triggered a massive 40 percent sales increase for Aviator sunglasses . Yet perhaps its strangest legacy was how the character of Maverick was the inspiration for Walt Disney's animated version of "Aladdin." People report that Disney president Jeffrey Katzenberg was so taken with Cruise's portrayal of the charismatic pilot with attitude that he urged his animators to capture the essence of what made him tick and bring it to life in Disney's forthcoming cartoon.

Photos of Cruise were draped everywhere in the studio for illustrators to take inspiration from. Animator Glen Keane explained to The Los Angles Times , "In all Cruise's poses, I noticed there was a confidence, a look in the eyebrows, that gives him intensity and at the same time a smile that has a kind of impish look like he's got something up his sleeve." In tribute to Cruise, Aladdin was blessed with a "straight-off-the-forehead nose."

He gives chosen celebs a Cruise Cake every Xmas

Being a good pal of Tom Cruise might get you a white chocolate coconut bundt cake delivered by private jet every Christmas. Yahoo! reports that close friends of the big-hearted actor can expect a little something extra in their stocking and it's full of creamy goodness and very nice to eat. Chosen celebs who receive the signature item from Doan's Bakery in Woodland Hills, California, are unanimous in singing its praises. Jimmy Fallon brands it "unbelievable." Henry Cavill positively gushes when he calls it, "the most decadent, the most amazing cake." And Kirsten Dunst wastes no time in calling it "one of the best cakes I've ever had." Such is the power of the "Cruise Cake," celebs fall over one another to stay on Tom's nice list.

Cruise rarely consumes sugar himself and so, "I send cakes to everyone and I wait for the calls." When the recipients call to express their delight, Cruise said, "I'm like: Tell me about it!" According to The Guardian , Cruise was introduced to the cake by Diane Keaton. He was instantly converted. Having once spent three days straight eating chocolate cake as a young actor until he was violently sick, Cruise is partial to a nice sponge, but the white chocolate coconut bundt was like nothing he had ever experienced before. It was kind of an eureka moment, and for years he has made it his business to spread the word and send them to famous faces all over the world.

When each one of Tom Cruise's three wives turned 33, he left them

The innocence of chance and the fickle hand of fate land lead to some strange symmetries in everyone's life. Take Tom Cruise and the number 33 for example (via MammaMia ). When Katie Holmes, Nicole Kidman, and Mimi Rogers's marriage with Cruise came to an end, why were they all 33-years-of-age? Is it a bizarre coincidence or intriguing conspiracy? That's the question that has plagued Cruise fans for many a moon. Showbiz CheatSheet notes that Cruise's first wife, Mimi Rogers was responsible for introducing him to Scientology, and rumors abound that the Church of Scientology has been an unseen and silent bedfellow in the break-ups.

There's a theory noted by The Daily News that Cruise's divorces all have their basis on Scientology, which is not a rabbit hole we any sane person would wish to disappear into. Nevertheless, conspiracy theorists insist that because the number 33 has such a deep significance in Scientology, the age of each of Cruise's three wives at the time of their divorce cannot be ignored.  They also point out that Phoenix, Arizona, where the first Church of Scientology was founded, lies on a circle of latitude that lies 33 degrees from the Earth's equator and has been called the 33rd parallel. At best it's a loose connection, but it remains one of intrigue for those who delight in playing "connect the dots."

Cruise once lost it big time on the set of Mission: Impossible

Tom Cruise's no-holds-barred COVID-19 safety rant on the set of the seventh "Mission: Impossible" movie was a welcome slice of behind-the-scenes Hollywood honesty. As anger-fueled rants that could turn the air blue with their sheer savagery and cuss words, it was right up there with Christian Bale's torrid dressing-down of the director of photography on the set of "Terminator Salvation." Only the hardest heart would not find a sliver of joy in listening to an A-Lister having a huge meltdown on the job. It demonstrates quite poignantly that behind the most polished PR job and promotional campaign lies a human heart that beats with the same frustrations and foibles as the rest of us.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Cruise barked, "I am beyond your apologies" to a few members of the crew he thought were violating COVID-19 protocols. He snarled, "We are not shutting this f****** movie down. Is it understood? If I see it again, you're f****** gone. And so are you." Some criticized Cruise for what they perceived as an exploitation of his power and for coming across as a control freak. Cruise later clarified that he was "very emotional" at the thought of the film's production being shut down again. He told Empire Magazine, "I said what I said. There was a lot at stake at that point. All these emotions were going through my mind. I was thinking about the people I work with and my industry."

Cruise has been accused of attempting to convert other celebs to Scientology

The New Zealand Herald reports that Cruise credits his success in Hollywood to Scientology . He told ITV in 2016, "It's something that has helped me incredibly in my life; I've been a Scientologist for over 30 years. It's something, you know, without it, I wouldn't be where I am. So it's a beautiful religion. I'm incredibly proud." The church was founded in the 1950s by sci-fi author L. Ron Hubbard. It believes that individuals are not just the product of their environment or genes, but immortal spiritual beings with unlimited capabilities and experiences above and beyond a single lifetime.

Tom Cruise has long been a vocal advocate of Scientology. By at least one telling, Cruise attempted to convert Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen to the cause. Rogen recalled in an interview with Howard Stern (per Far Out Magazine ) that during a meeting with Cruise, Cruise said, "If you let me just tell what it was really about, if you let me, just give me like 20 minutes to really just tell you what it was about, you would say 'No f****** ing way." Feeling uncomfortable, Apatow managed to steer the conversation toward movies, and their conversion was forgotten.

Cruise isn't a big fan of antidepressants

As a Scientologist, Tom Cruise subscribes to a philosophy that frowns upon prescription pills and chemical substances that alter the brain's chemistry. People report that in 2005 this belief saw him lock horns with Brooke Shields over her use of antidepressants. In the aftermath of giving birth to her daughter Rowan in 2003, Shields battled with postpartum depression. She documented the struggle in her book "Down Came the Rain."

Although a fan of Shields, describing her as "an incredibly talented woman," Cruise criticized the actress for her assertion that antidepressants cured her. He branded it as "irresponsible," and said, "When someone says medication has helped them, it is to cope, it didn't cure anything. There is nothing that can cure them whatsoever." Shields begged to differ and hit back at Cruis by stating, "Tom should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them."

His nice-guy image isn't just a solid PR campaign

Tom Cruise often comes across as the nice guy's nice guy. His everyman and easy-going demeanor almost appear too good to be true. Is it a bulletproof PR job or is Cruise actually one hell of a great guy? It's actions and not words that make a man, and judging by the long list of "Cruise to the rescue" stories in circulation, the guy is indeed, one rocksteady dude you'd want in your corner when things go south. Vulture reports that Crusie's good deeds are legion.

For example, Cruise one invited Zac Efron to his house just to teach him how to ride a motorcycle. Efron said, "It's just so cool he gave a s***, the fact that he cared at all. No one else did." Cruise also invited "Mummy" co-star Jake Johnson to his gym, the "pain cave," and got him in shape. 

Yet that's just the tip of the iceberg. Everyone who works with Cruise on set sings his praises. Stanley Kubrick once said, "You've never seen an actor more completely subservient and prostrate themselves at the feet of a director." It's not just other celebs he helps out. He once came to the rescue of a family whose sailboat went up in flames, and he paid the medical bills of an aspiring actress who was involved in a hit-and-run. 

Last but not least, no matter how busy he is on set, Cruise will always take his kids' calls, even if it means breaking from character.

Tom Cruise will never allow any official toys or video games to be made using his likeness

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tom Cruise , renowned for his roles in action-packed films such as the 'Mission: Impossible', has a surprising stance when it comes to allowing his likeness to be used for licensed video games or toys. Despite being involved in numerous blockbuster movies, the A-list actor has strict restrictions in place, prohibiting the use of his image or characters as inspiration for official merchandise.

While it is not uncommon for celebrities to make various requests before committing to a project, Cruise's decision stands out. Although specific details about his decision are not mentioned, it is clear that he remains steadfast in his refusal to grant permission for the use of his likeness in video games and toys.

Tom Cruise makes his co-stars 'run behind him'

Cruise's on-set demands have been known to include rigorous protocols, such as his preference for a sugar-free diet during film preparations. This can be attributed to the physically demanding nature of his roles, which often involve performing daring stunts. Despite such requirements, the actor reportedly sends cakes to his co-stars, as revealed in an interview with James Corden.

Annabelle Wallis, who worked with Cruise on ‘The Mummy’, told The Hollywood Reporter about the actor's rule of having his “co-stars run behind him at all times." She managed to persuade him to break that rule during their collaboration.

Why is Tom Cruise against using his likeness for merch?

Like many other celebrities, Cruise is known to include unique clauses in his contracts. As an A-list actor in the action genre for several decades, he has portrayed iconic characters that left a lasting impact on people worldwide.

A strict clause in his contract prevents any merchandise from featuring his face or image, effectively excluding him from such ventures. However, some unofficial fan-made dolls and toys inspired by his characters exist. 

The Best Movies About Video Games, Ranked

From 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World' to 'Edge of Tomorrow,' and everything in between.

We’ve got plenty of “video game movies.” Movies, like the much-maligned Super Mario Bros. or objectively-the-best-movie-ever-made Mortal Kombat , that adapt the world and characters of a video game and present a cinematic take on its narrative. What we lack are “movies about video games.” Movies that tackle one of our most important mediums of entertainment as a subject worth reckoning with, rather than more IP to plunder.

That might be why Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was such a surprise hit. The 2017 sequel to the beloved Robin Williams -starring ‘90s classic Jumanji took that delicious premise -- what if the dangers of a board game were real? -- and updated it into the contemporary space of how we play games. In other words: What if you got sucked into a video game? And those dangers were real? Thus, beyond its blockbuster-requisite gags and set pieces (and its movie star charisma from Dwayne Johnson , Kevin Hart , Jack Black , and Karen Gillan ), the film becomes a commentary about how we engage with video games as well.

In honor of the next entry in this new Jumanji meta-franchise -- Jumanji: The Next Level , which opens December 13, 2019 -- here are the best films about video games ranked. Ready to play?

Indie Game: The Movie

Indie Game: The Movie , a frank documentary, is equal parts inspiring and excruciating. Made in 2012, the film might be our best current filmed “temperature take” of contemporary video game culture. It follows the journeys of three acclaimed indie games and their eccentric developers: Super Meat Boy ( Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes ), Fez ( Phil Fish ), and Braid ( Jonathan Blow ). It’s inspiring in its insightful painting of our current generation of video game creators being raised during a peculiar time of video games. Growing up, these future creators had video games around them constantly -- but they were obviously not old enough to purchase them. Instead, they were passed down via the outside forces, like Moses with the Ten Commandments. Thus, these creators revere the force and power of video games (plastering posters over every inch of their walls) with an appealingly childlike sense of wonder and an appealingly adult sense of ambition. If you have a passion project you’ve been mulling over, Indie Game: The Movie might kickstart you into action. However: It’s excruciating in… just about every other way. Every creator is miserable. Every creator pushes themselves past their breaking points, intertwining their creations with their essences as human beings. When asked what Phil Fish will do if he doesn’t finish Fez , his response is blunt, and frankly, triggering: “I would kill myself” (When his game keeps breaking down at a later PAX panel, I can’t help but think about art imitating life). There’s an exposé-level of the unhealthiness lurking in the most fundamental parts of these all-male creators, turning Indie Game: The Movie retroactively into a warning sign for #GamerGate. Super Meat Boy codeveloper Edmund McMillen, in particular, troubles me. He seems to be in a loving relationship with his wife, Danielle . But his views on women, coupled with his desire to “push past boundaries,” seem to result in some nasty stuff. We see brief footage of one of his games ( The C Word ) that, to me, looks like you play as a giant erect penis in thrusting combat with a villainous, vaginal boss. This is, at best, a very, very bad extension of the “everything can be a boundary that’s pushed to an absurd joke” point of view he seems to commit to, without a bother to understand the context of its statements regarding sexual relationships between men and women. At worse, it is a game in which the way to win is to purposefully commit violent sexual assault. I relate to his (and the other creators’) struggles with feeling like an outsider, his anxieties and stomach aches and issues relating with people, his discovery of creative output as an outlet. But using pain for art is a double-edged sword. And in Indie Game: The Movie -- and in many ways, our contemporary gaming sphere -- the sword seems to swing in every direction possible.

In one set piece late in the 2009 sci-fi actioner Gamer , Michael C. Hall does a delicious soft-shoe dance number while his goons beat the shit out of Gerard Butler . This sequence alone should, in my opinion, enter the work straight to the top of every “best of film” list ever produced, regardless of year or topic covered. Until that happens, I’ll just be over here singing the praises of Gamer as loud as I can muster. Written and directed by the maniacal Crank franchise writer/directors Neveldine/Taylor , Gamer takes a sleazy premise and filters it through the “bro-y late 2000s FPS shooters” aesthetic (think the muted, brownish colors and beefy boys holding assault rifles in games like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ), resulting in a downright mind-numbing, eye-straining final product. And I mean this all as the sincerest of compliments. The flick takes place in 2034, where humans are addicted to a video game called Slayers (subtle, Gamer ain’t), invented by the evil Hall. One hotshot player, played by Logan Lerman , does particularly well with his avatar, who is not a programmed piece of AI but in fact a real human being played by Butler. You see, the characters of Slayers can earn their freedom if they win 30 matches in a row -- but most never do. When Hall decides Butler’s winning streak has gone long enough, flamed in part by the muckraking efforts of protesting group the “Humanz” (subtlety is overrated!), he crafts a series of new players that can cheat the system (led by Terry Crews , of course), sending Butler on the run for his life, digital or otherwise. Gamer , like the Cranks , has bonkers pieces of action, chopped and screwed by filmmakers who are more in touch with our media-saturated society’s postmodern, fast-paced ability to digest radically shifting information than perhaps any other 2000s filmmaker. Plus, a slightly increased budget and sense of narrative/visual focus ensures Neveldine and Taylor stay on track, and the relative sense of “patience” is noticeable. Beyond Hall having the most fun of his life, we also get scenery-chewing works of performative joy from eclectic actors like Ludacris and Kyra Sedgwick . Ultimately, I recommend Gamer because of its quirks and flaws. It plays like someone drank every flavor of Mountain Dew at once, read all of William Gibson ’s books while someone played Gears of War in the background, did 18 suicide sprints, and then stream-of-consciousnessed out a screenplay. If Mad Max: Fury Road is praised to high-heaven for its unrelenting pace, grimy aesthetics, and crystallized, singular vision of mayhem, surely Gamer deserves some love, too.

“It’s an epic adventure that everyone will enjoy!” boasts the Disney+ blurb for Tron . I disagree. I find Tron , the Mouse House’s live-action 1982 sci-fi film, to be quite the acquired taste. Its nascent use of computer generated imagery, while deservedly regarded as revolutionary at the time, has evolved to feel like a peculiar, stiff, idiosyncratic visual choice. Its pace is slow, its screenplay is dense, its score is downright goofy, its performances are not pitched toward mainstream familial enjoyment. But that doesn’t mean I think Tron is relegated to an educational relic not worthy of a pleasurable watch. If you can get yourself on its wavelength, Tron plays like a refreshingly unorthodox Amblin flick -- like if 1980s Steven Spielberg directed a 2000s Steven Spielberg screenplay. Jeff Bridges , delivering sterling, surprisingly unaffected work as usual, plays computer programmer Kevin Flynn, consigned to live in his own video game by evil tech-corp ENCOM. He tries his best to make it back to the real world while competing with the game’s various AIs and algorithms in ways both existential (the programs are personified versions of the real-life programmers!) and physical (lightcycle and deadly techno-frisbee battles!). I’m in love with the way the digital characters look -- the result of a combination of exacting technological procedures and atypically auteur-driven stylization in the realm of visual effects. Led by Moebius , aka French comic book creator Jean Giraud , the world of the game is so peculiar -- primary colors rendered in harsh angles atop unfinished wireframe renders. The actors in the game were photographed on 65mm black and white film, footage which was then painstakingly transferred using myriad photochemical/digital processes that would take hours to complete a single frame. The result feels both charming and dangerous, digestible yet at arm’s length. In other words, Tron is perhaps our best film that spoke to the early days of video games. Is Pong going to destroy us all, enthrall us all, or both?

Tron: Legacy

When film historians talk about the 2000s/2010s’ pervasive desire to reboot past properties in newly muted, realistic, “gritty” tone, they may talk about The Dark Knight as the peak and Suicide Squad as the nadir. I just hope they take some time to give Joseph Kosinski ’s directorial debut, 2010’s Tron: Legacy , more than a footnote. The film wears “gritty” like a slim-fitting, runway-ready blazer. Its colors are desaturated to pale greys and light blues, only allowing for eruptions of neon in its light cycle sequences. Oh, and its light cycle sequences move with breakneck, shockingly violent pace, using pristine cinematography from Claudio Miranda to frame each moment of the bloodsport like a cyberpunk chiaroscuro painting. Its Daft Punk score, combing the electro duo’s Human After All -era nihilistic funk with a damn symphony orchestra, straight up slaps. Tron: Legacy is the rare film that is a ton of fun to watch not despite its oppressively dark tone, but because of it (also because of Olivia Wilde ’s incredibly fun performance as Quorra). But, there’s one digital elephant in the grid to discuss. Its wonky-beyond-wonkiness fully CG “young Jeff Bridges,” while especially disquieting in a flashback sequence with his child, works wonders for the film’s narrative when he becomes the chief antagonist, Clu (Codified Likeness Utility). The character contrasts visually with the lived-in, age-appropriate skin of Jeff Bridges, narratively with the conflict between malevolently efficient artificial intelligence versus stubborn human nature, and even on a meta-level. Kosinski, whose visual effects-laden commercials for Gears of War and Halo 3 earned him the keys to the Tron legacy, knows precisely how to craft thrillingly immersive CGI worlds and images into his narratives without any speed bump. Except for Bridges’ Clu, of course, which just does not look right. But Kosinski’s technological limits wind up amplifying the main thrust of the film, and of many works of speculative fiction: Human beings will always triumph over technology, because of that certain, stubborn something. Tron: Legacy thus plays as a particularly shiny, stylish reminder that at the end of the day, it’s humans who play video games, not the other way around.

In the summer 1983 issue of Softline , a magazine dedicated to early Apple computer news (it is well worth your reading time if you feel like a trip down memory byte lane), John Badham ’s WarGames is described as being the first film that presents the presence of computers and video gaming as a given, rather than a new concept. “The film could not exist if the microcomputer did not exist as a widespread phenomenon. It takes the micro and telecommunications as a given—part of the middle-class American landscape.” Watching Matthew Broderick (charming as ever) zoom his way through seemingly complicated computer systems with ease in his fingers and mischief on his mind will ring familiar to any viewer who grew up with the Internet either as a child (Broderick) or an adult (the military officials who say things like “I don’t understand these computers very well”). Maybe younger brains are more able to instantly recognize and adapt new patterns into their lives. It could be why the cliche image of a video game player often skews younger -- the ability to instantly recognize and adapt new patterns, after all, is at the very core of games. But what if this ability is used to too much of an advantage? Against a system equally great and recognizing patterns, but without the human advantage of outside-the-pattern critical thinking? Then you’d get the delicious premise of WarGames , in which savvy hacker/gamer Broderick accidentally starts a chain of events that could lead to World War III because he -- and the military computer he hacked into -- thinks he’s playing a fun video game. If the dystopian takes on video games in Black Mirror episodes like “Bandersnatch” or “Shut Up and Dance” play too dour for you, WarGames explores many of the same themes with a lighter touch, a crackling sense of humor, and a resolution that’s as optimistic as it is existentially nerve-wracking. So much of video game culture is saturated with images of realistic violence. WarGames reminds us that real violence ain’t something to play with.

Edge of Tomorrow

If you want to know what it feels like to be a sentient video game character combined with a player, Edge of Tomorrow is likely the closest film experience you’ll get. Plopping the Groundhog Day narrative device into the world of a grimy third-person alien/military shooter, the Doug Liman -directed picture, based on acclaimed 2004 manga novel All You Need Is Kill , does one of my favorite things you can do with Tom Cruise : It makes him a damn coward. Like Magnolia before, Cruise talks a big talk in this film, hiding his lack of battlefield experience with the kind of sniveling bravado that comes from the cushy shield of a desk. But when he’s forced into battle to shoot the hell out of some aliens, he’s in for a rude awakening. And then a rude reawakening. And then a bunch more rude reawakenings in a row. You see, every time he dies, he wakes right back up and starts the battle over again. Turning his journey, effectively, into a level of a video game -- a tough, pattern-based run-and-gunner like Cuphead . We watch him learn from his mistakes, figure out where to dodge instead of standing still, feel the temporary rush of victory as he inches further toward completion, die again, respawn, and add his new lessons. Sound familiar? Along the way, he meets the incomparable Emily Blunt , his reluctant ally-turned-sage who absolutely pulverizes the alien enemies and decides to teach Cruise the basics of being an adequate soldier (think a tutorial level guide crossed with a no-bullshit take on GLaDOS crossed with your older brother who made fun of you for dying too early in World 1-1). As the two battle and rebattle and the film dives deeper into its wicked gallows sense of humor (jutted up brutally against the vicious acts of uncaring violence), the sense of “the video game playing experience” comes further and further into the film’s foreground.

Except: As the narrative gets complicated, so too does the collapsing between “player” and “character.” Cruise’s feelings of pain and frustration, while mimicking frustrations a player can have, come with an extra level of crisis due to his personally experiencing them. If you’ve ever dreamed of flying into your favorite video game, Jumanji: The Next Level might show you the dream version, and Edge of Tomorrow might show you the mordantly funny nightmare.

I was very, very surprised watching The Wizard . Its reputation, at least among friends who spoke to me about it, seems to be as a camp classic full of hackneyed product placement. An artifact useful only for a quick jolt of late ‘80s Nintendo nostalgia. This is what I was expecting -- nay, looking forward to -- as I started it. And yes, there are moments of the film that grind to a dead stop so we can luxuriate in the glory of Nintendo games like Super Mario Bros. 3 (which is, in fairness, a glorious game). And yes, there is a moment where a character, using the short-lived controller accessory known as the Power Glove, delivers the immortal line, “I love the Power Glove. It’s so bad.” But among all of these cheesy moments lies an almost perversely grim narrative about dysfunctional families, fathers and sons, divorce, trauma, and the damn death of a child. I am gobsmacked and awestruck by how unrelentingly dark this film wants to go.

Despite its bright, flat lighting, oft-goofy soundtrack, and remarkable kid performers, it’s all in service of (and thus in conflict with) deep, heavy stuff. And you know what? I’m glad it went there, and I feel like it pulls it all off. The Wizard’s title character is a young boy named Jimmy Woods ( Luke Edwards ) who suffers from a never-mentioned-by-name mental illness that might be exacerbated in part by the death of his sister. When his brother Nick ( Fred Savage ) discovers Jimmy is incredible at video games -- so incredible that they can make money -- they hightail it on an impromptu road trip to a video game tournament, picking up a young Haley Brooks ( Jenny Lewis , who went on to be an incredible musician) along the way. And now, dear reader, I shall become very personal with you. While Jimmy’s mental illness is never named, to me it read very clearly like autism. And when I was around his age, I was diagnosed with autism. Like Jimmy, I had issues with communicating, with emotional triggers feeling like tidal waves. Like Jimmy, I found comfort in routines, traditions, and patterns -- often to the befuddlement of family and friends. And like Jimmy, the synthesis of patterns into the social fun of video games helped me immensely. Suddenly, my non-understandable needs became assets, rather than detractors. And it’s no exaggeration to say I credit my discovery of video games as a huge step in my journey toward understanding my placement on the spectrum (alongside lots and lots of therapy and self-work, which I cannot recommend enough).

Your mileage may vary in terms of representation with this film -- again, the word “autism” is never mentioned once, and I could certainly understand the argument that its “casual savantism” is an example of one of many Hollywood generalities regarding the disorder (i.e. Rain Man , The Good Doctor ). But for me? I came into the film expecting a slice of goofy, video game-chasing fun. I left having seen a new favorite. In other words: I love The Wizard . It’s so bad.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

A documentary, a suspense thriller, an expose, a universally David-versus-Goliath story, an exacting examination into one of the most specific subcultures we’ve got. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is a lot of things. Above all: It’s incredibly entertaining. Seth Gordon ’s tightly structured doc dives headfirst into the world of arcade game high score competitions: specifically, for Donkey Kong , one of the most influential arcade games ever made. At the start of the film, the man holding the high score for Donkey Kong is Billy Mitchell , a man you will love to hate upon first sight. He’s a Florida-based hot sauce purveyor who boasts a scorching mullet, an American flag tie, and an oppressively cocky, downright sleazy attitude. The man challenging him is Steve Wiebe , a man you will love to love upon first sight. He’s an out of work engineer, a sweet, good-natured, quiet human, and peerlessly good at playing damn Donkey Kong (and not being a jackass about it). Or… is “peerless” not quite the right word? While the numbers achieved by Wiebe certainly seem to cement his place in gaming history, a litany of factors, from the construction of cabinet circuit boards to the validity of VHS copies to plain old human nature, complicates stuff at every turn. While, by design, The King of Kong is interested in exploring retro power structures, from the games on display to the toxic masculinity on display, it still feels like a relevant watch, a Nostradamus-esque fortune teller into the world of YouTube streaming celebs and e-sports controversies. And while the film’s ending may not provide the traditionally cathartic ending you’d desire in a story like this, do some Googling after you watch. Avoiding spoilers as carefully as I can, the bonus features of this film actually rewrote some of the film’s history. After all, it wouldn’t be a video game without DLC.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World , the Edgar Wright -directed cult classic based on the Bryan Lee O'Malley cult classic, is not explicitly about video games. It’s explicitly about love, the past, moving on from traumas, growing up, music, and self-actualization. But this thing is drenched in video game culture, from its narrative structure to its aesthetics, in ways both simply pleasing and complicatedly dissecting. The very first image we see is the Universal logo done in a chunky, pixelated style, with their iconic theme song rendered in 16-bit synthesizers. The very second image we see is a cascading establishing shot set to an immediately familiar The Legend of Zelda establishing cue -- a nice overture to the full tune used later in a surreal dreamscape. Wright has always saturated his films, and his films’ main characters, with reverence to pop culture, and Scott Pilgrim ’s (and Young Neil’s) nigh-upon idolization of the vibe of video games glows throughout, from Bill Hader ’s “fighting game voiceover,” to the shifting visual language and aspect ratios of the film, to the framing structure of the entire plot. Defeat a bunch of people in a row including a “final boss” to win the love of a girl? Sounds like every golden-age video game to me. But for Wright and co-writer Michael Bacall , not everything that’s gold glitters. Scott Pilgrim’s ( Michael Cera ) tendencies to live life as though he’s the protagonist of a video game hamper him, stunt him, and frankly, make him seem like a selfish dick. His casual tossing aside of Knives Chau ( Ellen Wong ) to go after Ramona Flowers ( Mary Elizabeth Winstead ) is as abruptly callous as his fights against Ramona’s “evil exes.” And the film’s ending resolutions for these three characters complicate everything seen before, including (and still using) the language of video games (“Scott earned the power of self-respect!”). As a final thought: If you like this film, you owe it to yourself to play the 2010 retro side-scrolling beat ‘em up video game, which is addictive, surprisingly deep, and features an incredible soundtrack from chiptune maestros Anamanaguchi .

Wreck-It Ralph

If you’ve ever played a video game, Wreck-It Ralph is for you. If you’ve ever seen a Disney movie, Wreck-It Ralph is for you. If you’ve ever felt ostracized, if you’ve ever sought acceptance, if you’ve ever had to do something bad in order to achieve what you thought was a greater good: Wreck-It Ralph is for you. It is, in fact, for everybody, an audience-spanning comedy that reaches lofty heights among its crackerjack video game-skewering plot. The title character, voiced with painful pathos by John C. Reilly , is tired of being his video game’s villain. He wants to be a hero, to be celebrated, to win a damn medal for once. So he hops out of his game and journeys into another, meeting fellow misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (the perfect Sarah Silverman ) in a Mario-Kart -combined-with-candy game. Can the two help each other find self-actualization? Wreck-It Ralph answers this question and thensome, giving its viewers the perfect blend of gags, heartstring pulls, and genuinely impressive set pieces that both spoof their genres (from gritty first-person shooters to literally sugary kart racers) and remind us how fun these genres are (seriously, I need Sugar Rush on my Switch, and I need it now). Wreck-It Ralph , while giving us the delightful Zangief, Sonic, Pac-Man, Bowser, and many other Roger Rabbit -esque cameos we need, has fundamental questions about identity on its mind, questions that lurk in the margins of every video game we’ve ever played. When we play a video game, we inhabit another character, making them do what we want to do. But what if these characters want to do something else? Worse yet -- what of the non-player characters, programmed to complete the specific, same function session after session? Can they burst free of their code and go on their own, self-made journey? Wreck-It Ralph dissects this casually existential question (in a friggin’ Disney kids’ movie!) using both Ralph, Vanellope, and a third character whom I shall not name for fear of spoilers, but let’s just say it gobsmacked me the first time I saw it. The high score has been set: Wreck-It Ralph is the greatest movie about video games ever made.

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Why does Tom Cruise do his own stunts? ‘No one asked Gene Kelly, ‘Why do you dance?’’

Cruise spoke at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick.”

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By Kyle Buchanan

• May 18, 2022

CANNES, France — It has been 30 years since Tom Cruise attended the Cannes Film Festival, and it’s evident the festival would like to make up for lost time.

Perhaps that’s why, in advance of a conversation with the actor billed as a “Rendezvous with Tom Cruise” — which was itself happening in advance of the evening premiere of Cruise’s sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” — the festival played a nearly 15-minute-long clip reel of Cruise’s filmography, hyperbolically scored to Richard Strauss’s “Also sprach Zarathustra.” As the actor and audience watched from their seats, the reel touched on Cruise the action star, Cruise the dramatic thespian and Cruise the romantic, though the latter section, which featured him pitching woo at a bevy of leading ladies, notably left out Cruise’s ex-wife and three-time co-star Nicole Kidman.

“It’s wild seeing this reel,” Cruise said after taking the stage. “It’s like your life in ten minutes — very trippy.”

Cruise was speaking in front of a mostly unmasked crowd in the Salle Claude Debussy, which included hundreds of journalists and a team from Cruise’s agent, CAA. “After everything we’ve been through, it’s such a privilege to see your faces,” he said. He noted that “Top Gun: Maverick” had been held for two years because of the pandemic, though he refused to show it on a streaming service in the meantime. “Not gonna happen!” Cruise said to applause.

The 59-year-old star is insistent that his movies receive a lengthy theatrical window, a mandate that has sometimes put him in conflict with studio heads, who are eager to fill their streaming services with star-driven content. And in an era where big names like Leonardo DiCaprio and Sandra Bullock have no problem appearing in films for Netflix, Cruise remains a rare holdout.

“There’s a very specific way to make a movie for cinema, and I make movies for the big screen,” said Cruise. “I know where they go after that and that’s fine.” He said he even called theater owners during the pandemic to reassure them: “Just know we are making ‘Mission: Impossible.’ ‘Top Gun’ is coming out.”

Cruise is a discursive speaker who will leap out of one anecdote before it’s done to land in another, then another. (Perhaps that would make for an esoteric set piece in one of his action films?) But it was striking how often he returned to his formative experience shooting the 1981 movie “Taps,” in which he acted opposite George C. Scott and found himself fascinated by the way the filmmaking worked. Cruise said that while shooting, he thought, “Please, if I could just do this for the rest of my life, I will never take it for granted.”

And in the absence of any challenging questions from his interlocutor, the French journalist Didier Allouch — who was mostly content to burble blandishments like “You're absolutely extraordinary” to his interview subject — Cruise had the freedom to basically spin his own narrative of being a determined student of cinema and his fellow man. (And “Taps,” of course.)

“I was the kind of kid who always wrote goals on the wall of what kind of movies I liked or what I wanted my life to be, and I worked toward those goals,” Cruise said.

Though the conversation increasingly leaned toward bland generalities — “I’m interested in people, cultures, and adventure,” Cruise said more than once — it did provide one major laugh line when Allouch asked why he was so determined to do his own stunts in the “Mission: Impossible” movies, which will soon be receiving seventh and eighth installments shot back-to-back.

“No one asked Gene Kelly ‘Why do you dance?’” replied the star.

Kyle Buchanan , a Los Angeles-based pop culture reporter, writes The Projectionist column. He was previously a senior editor at Vulture, New York Magazine's entertainment website, where he covered the movie industry. More about Kyle Buchanan

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Tom Cruise Did His Own Stunts For Top Gun: Maverick

The Hollywood icon was behind the cockpit in all those action shots.

By Lan Pitts on May 5, 2022 at 10:39AM PDT

It looks like the passage of time or going several g's can't stop Tom Cruise from doing what he wants. The 59-year-old actor arrived for the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick in only the way he can, on a helicopter aboard the retired aircraft carrier USS Midway.

It's been 36 years since the original Top Gun and pitching a sequel had almost taken a decade. Originally scheduled for a 2020 release, and delayed due to the pandemic, Top Gun: Maverick returns to tell the story of Cruise's Pete Mitchell confronting his past and helping his late friend's son, played by Miles Teller, train as a pilot.

Cruise, a licensed pilot, has been preparing for his return as Maverick for years now and producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that was indeed the actor inside the cockpits for those action scenes.

"Every time you see him flying, that’s him in that jet", he told The Hollywood Reporter . "You can't pull Tom Cruise back. He’s going to do what he’s going do."

Cruise's fellow castmembers also said that he doesn't shy away from doing the harder stuff. Glen Powell, who plays Lieutenant "Hangman" Seresin, mentioned that he's very much hands-on when it comes to stunt work.

"Tom does not half-ass anything, as we all know, and Tom put together a flight program for all of us so that by the time we graduated to the F/A18, we wouldn't be passing out or puking in Naval assets," he said. "When you have Maverick training you how to fly and that enthusiasm, it really rubs off on you."

Top Gun: Maverick hits theaters on May 27.

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The Mummy Demastered Is an Eerie, Fantastic Game Tie-In That’s Better Than the Movie

By Michael Leri

Metroidvanias come out so frequently that it’s often hard for any one of them to stick out. Movie tie-in games don’t stick out for a much more simple reason: many of them are cheap shovelware. If the movie it’s based on is bad, then its game tie-in is only going to be further ignored and banished to the annals of history in record time. Despite all of this, The Mummy Demastered , the game linked to 2017’s Tom Cruise-led  The Mummy , is a great Metroidvania that’s still an excellent, creepier take on the genre.

2017’s The Mummy was a universally panned film . It helped put the nail in the coffin in Universal Studio’s MCU-like Dark Universe and forced the studio to take a different approach to its monsters, which resulted in stand-alone movies like 2020’s The Invisible Man . And when a movie is that forgettable, viewers probably don’t want more of it and a game set in the same universe. No one wants a dirt cake for dessert after eating mud and rock lasagna for dinner, especially when that dessert comes four months after the main course as was the case with the film and game release.

RELATED: 16 Halloween Games from 2021 You Should Play (And 1 You Should Avoid)

Developer WayForward also didn’t have the most even record at that point. It did develop River City Girls and assisted with Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night , but those two acclaimed titles hadn’t come out yet, which means most of its success at that time was from its internally developed Shantae series.

While the  Shantae games, Aliens: Infestation , Double Dragon Neon , A Boy and His Blob , and  Contra 4 are just some of the team’s great titles, they are vastly outnumbered by WayForward’s other projects that mostly consisted of licensed games based on shows for children. The Mummy Demastered just seemed like WayForward being WayForward: making a mediocre game based on a mediocre film or television show; it just wasn’t based on a kid’s show this time.

The Mummy Demastered was releasing to low expectations and seemingly knew that since it opens with its strongest element: its soundtrack, which is one of the best game soundtracks in the last decade . Monomer crafted a spooky score that uses heavy synths and groovy rhythms to evoke a 1980s-esque theme — appropriate for the game’s slick retro art style — and the horror films the Mummy franchise takes from. While present throughout its absolutely amazing soundtrack, this balance of horror and its 1980s aesthetic is made immediately clear in the track that plays over the title screen and gives an accurate sample of the whole experience right off the bat. It’s a tracklist of heaters that leads with its hottest beat.

The gameplay is more traditional, but it’s wonderfully done. Players control a faceless soldier as they try to navigate a series of caves, forests, sewers, labs, and city streets in order to take down Princess Ahmanet, one of the antagonists from the film. In typical search action platformer fashion, players gather abilities in order to reach new areas, occasionally splitting off to grab a secret or hidden upgrade. 

Describing it doesn’t do it quite enough justice because it’s more than the sum of its parts. It doesn’t lead players by the nose from objective to objective but does give them a waypoint, which forces players to explore while giving them some sense of direction. The game is also paced well, as powers and new equipment come steadily over its six or seven-hour runtime. These upgrades often include a different weapon or grenade that players even get to choose between depending on what fits their style. These stages end with a climactic boss fight that becomes a decent test of the player’s skill; an aspect that the game could use more of since it’s a bit on the easy side. It’s a tried-and-true loop that Demastered doesn’t exactly innovate in, but executes brilliantly.

RELATED: Underappreciated Movies to Watch During Halloween

WayForward didn’t push way forward with The Mummy Demastered as it is a by-the-numbers, if well-executed, search action platformer. However, it’s still far better than it had any right to be and is one of the best horror-adjacent entries in the genre, an aspect that is further strengthened by its excellent and tonally appropriate soundtrack. The Mummy was a big loss for Universal as it fell short of the $450 million it needed to break even and drove a stake through the heart of the aforementioned Dark Universe, but it at least spawned a solid and underrated video game adaptation.

Michael Leri is Evolve's senior gaming editor. He prides himself on playing and finishing as many video games as he can in all sorts of genres from shooters to platformers to weird indie experiments. There's always something to learn from rolling credits and that thirst for experience and knowledge is mostly what drives him. You can find him on Twitter, Backloggd, Bluesky, and Letterboxd as @OrangeFlavored.

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Tom Holland Reveals Which Video Games He's Been Playing Lately

In a recent interview for the upcoming Uncharted film, Tom Holland discusses the various different video games he has been playing on and off set.

Uncharted , the film adaptation of Naughty Dog’s acclaimed video game series, is due out in theaters on February 18, and star Tom Holland has been taking part in the film’s press cycle leading up to its release. Holland, famous for portraying Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has been having a stellar run of success following last December’s release of Spider-Man: No Way Home , with the film officially beating James Cameron’s Avatar as the third highest grossing film at the domestic box-office.

February now brings Uncharted for Holland, who portrays protagonist Nathan Drake alongside Mark Wahlberg as Victor Sullivan, which depicts the character’s early years of treasure hunting before the events of the games. The film has had a tumultuous development cycle, with an assortment of filmmakers attached to the project on and off for several years, before Ruben Fleisher, who previously directed the first Venom starring Tom Hardy , was assigned to helm the project.

RELATED: Fortnite Officially Reveals Uncharted Crossover

While speaking with IGN, Holland spoke at length about the making of the film, the vote of confidence he received from Nolan North, who portrays Nathan Drake in the original Uncharted game series, and what to expect of future of this potential film franchise. During this interview, Holland also spoke at length about other video games he had been playing while on set as well as ones he is looking forward to.

The first game Holland notes is The Last of Us , Naughty Dog’s other popular franchise, which itself is receiving the live-action treatment with The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal portraying Joel and Game of Thrones ’ Bella Ramsey playing Ellie. Holland also talked at length about his excitement for Avalanche Software’s Hogwarts Legacy , stating that it “looks amazing.”

It’s fun to hear Holland’s excitement when it comes to the various games he has been playing in his off time from his busy schedule, and even more so that he feels genuine excitement for newer games on the way. Another game that Holland noted that he was a fan of was Mediatonic’s Fall Guys , which he previously joked in an interview about doing a Fall Guys movie with Chris Pratt .

With how many projects Holland has lined up for the future, it’s possible that another video game adaption could be in the cards, after he professed his want to star in a movie based on Naughty Dog’s Jak and Daxter , which Uncharted director Ruben Fleisher is slated to be in early development on at the moment. But for now, it’s great to hear his excitement for the future regardless of where his career takes him next.

MORE: When The Uncharted Series Returns, It Should Bring Back Supernatural Enemies

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Tom Cruise Attends Wimbledon Finals with Mission: Impossible Costars Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff

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Karwai Tang/WireImage Pom Klementieff, Tom Cruise , Hayley Atwell

Tom Cruise is enjoying a day out with his Mission: Impossible costars! The actor, 59, attended the Wimbledon women's singles finals on Saturday alongside Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff. There the trio watched as Australian Ashleigh Barty faced off against the Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova , with Barty ultimately winning the match .

The official Twitter account for the tennis championship also shared a pair of fun videos in honor of Cruise, who wore a sharp blue suit for the outing.

RELATED: Tom Cruise Breaks Down His Iconic Vault Scene in Mission: Impossible for Its 25th Anniversary

"A set down, it isn't mission impossible from here to win for Karolina Pliskova," they joked alongside one video that showed the group enjoying the big match.

Meanwhile, another video showed Cruise waving to the crowds . "Take a bow, @TomCruise," they captioned the clip.

Karwai Tang/WireImage Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise

Neil Mockford/GC Images Tom Cruise

Take a bow, @TomCruise #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/MpT7FlvEIf — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 10, 2021

The outing came a month after production was briefly suspended due to a positive COVID-19 test on set.

"We have temporarily halted production on Mission: Impossible 7 until June 14th, due to positive coronavirus test results during routine testing," a studio spokesperson told Entertainment Weekly in a statement at the time. "We are following all safety protocols and will continue to monitor the situation."

RELATED VIDEO: Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's Daughter Bella Shares Rare Glimpse of Herself Online

Several months earlier, an audio recording leaked late last year that featured Cruise lashing out at crew members on the set of Mission: Impossible 7 over COVID-19 protocols being neglected.

The big-budget action sequel had previously halted production in Italy back in February 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak began, but eventually resumed in Rome in October . Variety also reported that the set was then shut down for a week in October after positive COVID tests.

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During an interview with Empire in May, Cruise addressed the comments , noting that there was "a lot at stake" in the tense moment.

"I said what I said," he told the magazine, standing by the statements he made.

"All those emotions were going through my mind," he continued. "I was thinking about the people I work with, and my industry. And for the whole crew to know that we'd started rolling on a movie was just a huge relief. It was very emotional, I gotta tell you."

In addition to the latest installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Cruise will also star in Top Gun: Maverick , hitting theaters this November.

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Trailblazer, Hollywood heavyweight, and action hero: For Tom Cruise, no mission is impossible

In days past, you couldn’t move for Hollywood’s archetypal leading man. Capable of flexing their guns just as well as firing them, the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger littered the schedules with their own brand of action-heavy spectacles. While some – Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson among them – have kept the fire burning bright, that style of movie has burnt out. At least, it had. Enter Tom Cruise, who has managed to reinvent the throwback role as a modern-day leading man – dragging an entire industry forward in the process.

Cruise’s latest, Top Gun: Maverick , is a five-star blockbuster that’s breaking all sorts of box office records. Without Cruise at the center, the movie doesn’t work. That’s not just because the story doesn’t fly without hotshot pilot-turned-overqualified captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell. Hell, even with Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick shouldn’t work. It should be a cheesy, money-grab that favors style over substance. But if you’re not sold by the time Kenny Loggins’ ‘Danger Zone’ kicks in during the opening, you will be – over and over again – by the time Cruise is in control.

Why? Simply put, Cruise remains the total package: a triple threat of charisma, action chops, and an actor who can hit the emotional beats better than pretty much anyone around. That’s best seen in Maverick’s dynamic with Miles Teller’s Rooster, the son of Maverick’s former wingman Goose, who died in tragic circumstances in the 1986 original.

Rooster’s inclusion, by definition, feels hackneyed and shoehorned-in. Cruise and Teller opt against picking the low-hanging fruit, instead aiming for a fresher personal connection that tugs at the heartstrings rather than a lingering look towards the ‘80s classic. The stolen glances, overflowing anger, and – minor spoilers – their final hug all feel earned and drenched with history thanks in large part to Cruise’s Swiss Army Knife performance. That’s because Cruise, much like Maverick, is believable and legitimate in a way no one else really is. He walks the walk and talks the talk, both on camera and off it.

Cruise’s ability to straddle eras and remain relevant is evidence of that. The actor is a bridge between Hollywood's action heyday and the 21st Century, while possessing the rare ability of an older star who can hit the right nostalgic notes without wallowing in the past. Unlike some, he’s not a cheap act relying on whether you remember when movies seemed bigger, better and more explosive. That’s Tom Cruise in a nutshell: a relic of the past who is constantly pushing boundaries, inventing new solutions, and moving forward. He’s a walking, talking paradox with a Hollywood smile and enough muscle – both physically and behind-the-scenes – to carry a blockbuster on his back.

In an industry where physical in-camera creativity has been dampened by green screens, off-putting CGI, and tired composition, Cruise (with the crew and director Joseph Kosinski behind him, lest we forget) comes as close to a seal of quality as Hollywood gets. That’s all thanks to his mission statement: a relentless desire to go further – and take everyone else with him.

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Take Top Gun: Maverick’s cockpit sequences, for example. It’s often said that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. While Mav and his flyboys and girls have clearly done that by the time they take to the skies for their death-defying mission in the legacy sequel, Cruise and his cast weren’t exactly far behind.

All told, over 800 hours of footage was shot in the cockpits alone for Top Gun: Maverick. That tactile practicality can be seen and felt on-screen too. Cruise’s work ethic is on full display here; you get the impression that every possible combination of beads of sweat, darting eye movements, and bone-thundering jolts were accounted for. The end result is remarkable, and even more so when you take a peek into the process behind it.

“We had two planes flying – that’s 12 cameras, not including ground to air and exterior mounts, heli to jet, and jet to jet,” Kosinski told IndieWire of the airborne sequences, which involved the actors heading up to the clouds in real jets. “One day we had 26 cameras rolling. When you have two fast-moving objects, when you have moments when the footage is good, you’re going to get one- or two-second pieces worthy of being in the film. In a 14-hour day, 30 seconds was great.”

Even how Top Gun: Maverick was greenlit is something that could have been torn from the pages of a Hollywood script. So it goes, according to director Joseph Kosinski in an interview with Polygon , that his impassioned pitch to Cruise impressed the actor so much that he got the ball rolling immediately.

“He picked up the phone, he called the head of Paramount Pictures and said, ‘We’re making another Top Gun,’” Kosinski recalled. In one fell swoop, Cruise went to bat – as he always does – for the big-budget, auteur-driven blockbuster experience. Outside of perhaps Christopher Nolan, no one is leading the charge like Cruise. Except, in Cruise’s case, he’s involved every step of the way both behind and in front of the camera.

Of course, it’s not just in Top Gun: Maverick where Cruise is head and shoulders above the rest. In a roll call that would make James Bond wince, the actor has put his body on the line in stunt-heavy sequences that make him stand out as a real-life action hero.

Cruise shattered his foot performing a building-to-building leap on Mission: Impossible – Fallout (something that can be seen in the final cut), held onto airplanes for dear life, performed HALO jumps, and rode motorbikes off mountains – all in the name of entertaining us. No one else is doing it like Tom Cruise. Nor should anyone else, not least because of the eye watering insurance premiums.

Speaking of money, Top Gun: Maverick’s laser-focused vision has hit right at the heart of the moviegoing public. It’s not a stretch to suggest Cruise has been the man to revive cinema after a tough period post-COVID. The sheer figures alone are outstanding: this is Tom Cruise’s biggest opening ever at $248m, heading well north of $600m total at the time of writing. Incredibly, it also holds the all-time record for lowest week-on-week drop for a movie grossing $100m domestically in its opening weekend (it dipped to a $90m second weekend following a $160m debut in the United States). 

People are sticking around – and coming back for seconds. It’s already the third biggest movie of the year behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Batman (already outperforming both in the UK). Remember: this isn’t a superhero movie, nor is it a sprawling franchise. Top Gun’s pop culture footprint is large, to be sure, but it’s been over 35 years since the original – simply put: the power of Cruise’s singular box office appeal cannot be underestimated when considering its surprise success.

But is this the end? Sorry to be a spoilsport, but Cruise will be 60 by the time the awkwardly-titled Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is out in 2023. Cruise may be as close as it comes to Superman, but he can’t do this forever. His next stretch of movies – from Top Gun: Maverick, Dead Reckoning Parts One and Two, and his upcoming movie in outer space with Doug Liman – feels, then, like a last hurrah. Except, Cruise probably sees it more of a victory lap, a culmination of his decades-long crusade to keep movies feeling fresh, novel, entertaining, awe-inspiring, and all the reasons we keep coming back to cinemas besides that. Appreciate this stretch of movies. Appreciate Tom Cruise. After this, it’s not going to be topped – at least if a certain maverick has anything to say about it.

Discover what else is coming to cinemas this year with our guide to movie release dates .

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

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Screen Rant

Tom cruise campaigned to play key watchmen character, reveals zack snyder.

Director Zack Snyder reveals that Tom Cruise campaigned to play a key character in his Watchmen movie, though couldn't agree on which one.

• Tom Cruise's ambition and commitment to roles could have resulted in an interesting portrayal of Rorschach in Watchmen .
• Cruise's lack of major villainous roles may have also made playing Ozymandias equally intriguing in the 2009 movie.
• Despite the actor's campaign to be in the 2009 movie, Snyder ultimately couldn't part with his casting decision for Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach.

Zack Snyder reveals that Tom Cruise chased the role of a certain key Watchmen character. The 2009 superhero film was praised as a gritty, visually striking, and faithful adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novel it was based on, but the complex narrative proved to be too hard to follow for those who weren’t already familiar with the source material. The film holds a 65% from critics and 71% from audiences on review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. Watchmen was also considered a box office flop, grossing only $185 million, but its gritty tone helped shape the future of superhero films.

In an interview with Happy Sad Confused , Watchmen director Snyder revealed that Cruise wanted to play Rorschach . The reveal comes right after Snyder said that he wanted Cruise to play Ozymandias. The conversation about the reveal is brief, but Snyder said that Cruise was capable of playing the dark, complex character Rorschach, only for the filmmaker to have already cast Jackie Earle Haley. Check out what Snyder shared in the quotes and video below:

Zack Snyder: I wanted Tom Cruise for Ozymandias. Tom wanted to play Rorschach. Josh Horowitz: Tom wanted to play Rorschach? Zack Snyder: He wanted to play Rorschach, which, I mean obviously, he could have done. Yeah. But we had Jackie already and Jackie is, like, unbelievable! I mean, but I certainly would have considered Tom in retrospect if I hadn't had Jackie. Horowitz: So you meet with Tom, and you're like, "Ozymandias." He's like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wanna play that weird, crazy guy." Snyder: Which would have been unbelievable, in retrospect, yeah.

Cruise’s Ambition & Commitment Would Have Produced An Interesting Rorschach

Despite Cruise not being known for playing characters like Rorschach, the actor’s ambition and commitment to his roles may have resulted in an interesting portrayal of the character.

The world of Watchmen is one filled with anti-heroes. Cruise playing Rorschach would have been an interesting choice, as the actor is better known for playing characters who are clearly heroes, like Mission: Impossible 's Ethan Hunt or Top Gun 's Maverick. By taking on the role of Rorschach, he may have produced a dark, morally complex character Cruise isn’t well known for.

Despite Cruise not being known for playing characters like Rorschach, the actor’s ambition and commitment to his roles may have resulted in an interesting portrayal of the character. Whether it be in his action-oriented work or some of his more dramatic fare, like Born on the Fourth of July , the four-time Oscar nominee has frequently shown a dedication to pouring himself completely into his roles. The recent installments of Mission: Impossible are prime examples of this, as Cruise has opted to do most of his own stunts, many of which are incredibly dangerous.

The Most Dangerous Stunt In Every Mission Impossible Movie

Given Rorschach was one of the more action-heavy characters in Snyder's Watchmen with his various vigilante work and brutal escape from prison with the help of Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II, Cruise could've leaned into the stunt performing he's now become known for with the 2009 movie. That being said, the argument could also be made that the star's lack of major villainous roles throughout his career could've made his playing Ozymandias to have been just as intriguing. While the movie may not have scored widespread acclaim, Haley's performance does remain a standout, assuring that Snyder ultimately made the right choice.

Source: Happy Sad Confused

*Availability in US

Not available

In 1986, DC Comics published a comic book limited series consist of 12 issues titled  Watchmen . Creator Alan Moore worked with artist Dave Gibbons for the project, which released monthly issues from 1986 to 1985. A movie adaptation was released in March 2009 under the direction of Zack Snyder. The story of  Watchmen  happens in an alternate reality 1985, with references to events that occurred in the 1940s and 1960s. In the old days, a group of crime fighters in costume, called the Minutemen, went down in history as contributing to the many victories achieved by the United States. In the series’ history, the United States won the Vietnam War and no Watergate scandal occurred. In the present (1985), a Cold War between the U.S. and Soviet Union is threatening to turn into a nuclear war. One of the retired superheroes, The Comedia aka Agent Edward Blake (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), is murdered, and the investigation leads to a discovery of a conspiracy that brings other heroes out of retirement. Other heroes include Jon Osterman/Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre (Carla Gugino) and Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley). In 2015, news about HBO working on a TV series for  Watchmen  began to surface with early reports saying Snyder will be the director of the TV adaptation as well. In mid-2017 news broke that Snyder will be replaced by Damon Lindelof, who is the co-creator and showrunner of  Lost . As of this writing, Lindelof has neither denied nor confirmed his involvement in the project but he has been vocal about wanting to be part of it, and that he wants a close adaptation of the comic book.

Tom Cruise Was Once Considered For Iron Man, But There Was Another Superhero Movie He Also 'Flirted' With

Two very different flavors of Cruise could have been present in the world of comic movies.

You don’t get to be an acting talent like Tom Cruise without racking up an obscene amount of “what if” stories. While we know the man as the lead of the Mission: Impossible movies , and a stunt performing daredevil extraordinaire, there were a couple times in his career that comic book movies came a calling. 

And while we already know about Cruise’s potential role in the then developing Iron Man franchise, it turns out that Zack Snyder’s Watchmen was apparently another project that could have seen the star of some of the best action movies in the world playing an anti-hero. 

The Watchmen Characters Tom Cruise Was Considered For

As if Zack Snyder’s bombshell about Leonardo DiCaprio being considered for the role of Lex Luthor wasn’t enough of a shock, the director’s Happy Sad Confused interview also yielded this juicy gem. And apparently, while the Rebel Moon director wanted Tom Cruise to play one role, the man behind Ethan Hunt was gunning for the polar opposite. Take a look for yourself: 

Tom Cruise wanted to be in WATCHMEN. But only as…wait for it…Rorschach. Another bombshell @ZackSnyder dropped in our chat. The full chat: https://t.co/qDTvcxgxfu pic.twitter.com/uLeM7UMESw April 18, 2024

I’m going to set aside the fact that, like Josh Horowitz, I consider the casting of Watchmen to be perfect. I can’t see either Jackie Earle Haley or Matthew Goode not playing Rorschach or Ozymandias at this point, but for the sake of academic curiosity, I’m going to pretend I can. With that caveat in place, I’d honestly have a hard time picking which role Tom Cruise would be better suited for. 

Cruise’s Rorschach feels like it’d be a modified version of his Vincent character from Collateral , whereas Ozymandias would be a variation on his aloof killer archetype as Lestat from Interview with the Vampire . That second scenario would have been a particularly good showcase for Tom, as that character basically launches into a Watchmen ending explained monologue in the third act.

Both characters hold echoes of some of Tom Cruise's best movies. So to all of a sudden hear that Zack Snyder had met with the man to try and cast him in this epic comic adaptation has replaced Iron Man as the greater “what if” for Cruise’s potential career in comic movies. Which, after all this time, is no easy feat.

That Time Tom Cruise ‘Flirted’ With Playing Iron Man

If anyone ever wanted to know how forward thinking Tom Cruise is when it comes to movies, consider this: the man was flirting with comic book movies before the boom had truly taken off. While the ultimate reason for Cruise’s Iron Man refusal was classic Hollywood dealing, the man was circling these sorts of opportunities before they were cool. 

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History shook out the way it did, and Robert Downey Jr .’s iconic casting won out. That hasn’t stopped people from pondering over how a Cruise-led Iron Man could have looked. Especially since, on the Tom Cruise Continuum of Characters, Tony Stark feels like a more cavalier and grown up version of Risky Business’ Joel Goodsen.

Twice before we almost saw Tom Cruise landing a comic book movie icon on his resume; and who knows? We might just see him land that sort of role in the future, provided he wants to go down that road. The Multiverse of both DC and Marvel are vast, and there's surely someone Cruise would be down to play in the name of four paneled fun. 

As it stands, the Watchmen we have at home is a sterling example of comic book adaptations done right. So should you want to revisit that movie, with or without visions of Tom Cruise participating, you can do just that. At the time of this publication, a Max subscription is all that’s required to catch up once again with those costumed heroes. 

Mike Reyes is the Senior Movie Contributor at CinemaBlend, though that title’s more of a guideline really. Passionate about entertainment since grade school, the movies have always held a special place in his life, which explains his current occupation. Mike graduated from Drew University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, but swore off of running for public office a long time ago. Mike's expertise ranges from James Bond to everything Alita, making for a brilliantly eclectic resume. He fights for the user.

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Every Fallout game that you can play on PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch and PC right now

You’ve watched “Fallout” on Prime Video now explore the wasteland yourself

• Fallout games on Xbox
• Fallout games on PS5
• Fallout games on PC
• Fallout games on Switch

Prime Video’s “Fallout” TV show has ignited a sizeable wave of interest in the Fallout video games. Of course, these post-apocalyptic RPGs were best-sellers long before Amazon adapted the franchise for it's streaming service , but there are plenty of new players, as well as returning wasteland veterans, looking to dive into a Fallout game after binging the show. 

Currently playable on modern hardware are the four mainline entries in the Fallout franchise, alongside a further four spin-off titles. However, not every Fallout game is playable on every platform, so if you’re wondering which ones are available on PS5 , Xbox Series X , PC and Nintendo Switch , we’re on hand with a full guide to playing Fallout in 2024, showing you which games in the franchise are available and where. 

Plus, to celebrate the show’s launch on Prime Video, various Fallout games have been discounted or added to services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus . Even better, a couple are even being given away for free to Amazon Prime subscribers via Prime Gaming . 

So, if the excellent “Fallout” TV show has you eager to roam the wasteland yourself, here’s every Fallout game that you can play on current generation hardware right now…

Fallout games available on Xbox

• Fallout: New Vegas
• Fallout Shelter

After Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media (parent company of Fallout stewards Bethesda) in 2021, Xbox became the console home of Fallout, and as it stands every single “modern” Fallout game is available on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S , as well as Xbox One . 

Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas originally launched on Xbox 360, but both are playable with a frame rate boost on current Xbox hardware via the console’s awesome backwards compatibility features. Plus, every single Fallout game listed above is included on Xbox Game Pass. If you’re a Fallout fan that plays exclusively on console, Xbox is the best place to be.   

If you’re the type that would rather own your games than play them via a subscription service (a sentiment I agree with), the Xbox Store is currently running a massive Fallout sale that includes Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas for $2 apiece and Fallout 4 for just $4 . And if you have an Amazon Prime account, you can get Fallout 76 for free thanks to Prime Gaming.  

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Fallout games available on PlayStation

Fallout players on PS5 (or PS4 ) face slightly more limited options. The latest entries in the franchise 2015’s Fallout 4 and 2018’s Fallout 76 are both playable on PS5, and the former is set to receive a much-requested next-gen update later this month that will boost performance and pack a smattering of fresh content. Both games are currently included in the PlayStation Plus library at the Extra or Premium subscription tiers. 

Unfortunately, you cannot natively play Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas on PS5 or PS4, but if you’re determined to explore the ruins of Washington or the neon-light New Vegas strip on a PlayStation console, these two classic RPGs are included in the PlayStation Plus Premium streaming library. However, as they can only be streamed, expect uneven performance and potential input delay (depending on your internet speed). This is a last-resort way of playing. 

Bargain hunters playing on PS5 will be pleased to hear that both Fallout 4 (and its various DLC expansions) and Fallout 76 are included in the PlayStation Store Spring Sale . Right now Fallout 4 is $4 and Fallout 76 is $7 until April 26. Currency for the free-to-play Fallout Shelter is also reduced in this annual sales event .   

Fallout games available on PC

• Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel

If you want to play pretty much every Fallout game ever made, then PC is the platform for you. Not only can PC players enjoy all the “modern” Fallout games developed under the watch of Bethesda, but the first two games, and the Tactics spin-off, created by developer Interplay Entertainment are playable on PC. And they’ve held up well. 

Accessing Fallout games on PC is super simple as well, every single Fallout game (Bar Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel) is currently playable on PC Game Pass . Or if you’d rather buy them a la carte, the entire franchise is purchasable on Steam , GOG or the Xbox Store . 

Right now, the Fallout Franchise Bundle which includes Fallout 1 through Fallout 4 is on sale for $55 on Steam, that’s a 77% discount off the regular list price of $244. 

PC gamers with an Amazon Prime account can also score free copies of Fallout 76 and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel via Prime Gaming for a limited time. Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are also available to stream via Amazon Luna . 

Fallout games available on Nintendo Switch

Bethesda ported its 2011 RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to the Nintendo Switch shortly after the hybrid console launched in 2017, but despite many requests over the year, it’s yet to bring any mainline Fallout games to the platform. This means that options for Nintendo Switch owners looking to dive into the Fallout universe are extremely limited with just a single choice. 

Fallout Shelter , a 2015 time-waster that originally launched on mobile, is available on Nintendo Switch. This management game casts you as a vault overseer and tasks you with keeping your dweller's needs fulfilled while also expanding your shelter and fending off various outside threats. It’s a surprisingly engrossing experience, and while it’s no substitute for a proper Fallout game, it does feel more at home on the portable Switch than PS5 or Xbox. 

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Rory is an Entertainment Editor at Tom’s Guide based in the UK. He covers a wide range of topics but with a particular focus on gaming and streaming. When he’s not reviewing the latest games, searching for hidden gems on Netflix, or writing hot takes on new gaming hardware, TV shows and movies, he can be found attending music festivals and getting far too emotionally invested in his favorite football team. 

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