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Producers Guild Awards honor 'Top Gun' Tom Cruise, give top prize to 'Everything Everywhere All At Once'

LOS ANGELES – "Top Gun: Maverick" producer and star Tom Cruise was honored Saturday with a career achievement award at the 34th annual Producers Guild of America Awards.

However, the producers awards show bestowed the top prize of the night to  "Everything Everywhere All At Once," widening the sci-fi drama's lead as best picture front-runner.

The PGA is often seen as an Oscar bellwether. Eleven of the past 14 PGA winners have gone on to win best picture – meaning losing  the award  might have crushed the best picture hopes for "Top Gun: Maverick" at the Oscars on March 12.

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Former Paramount CEO Sherry Lansing presented the David O. Selznick Achievement Award to Cruise, 60. Lansing recalled casting the actor for the 1981 drama "Taps."

"He had that magical undefinable quality called charisma.  Equally important, Tom had an incredible work ethic. Even then, he was always the first on the set, always well prepared and respectful to everyone," said Lansing. "Over 42 years later, despite phenomenal success, Tom Cruise is still that very same person."

Tom Cruise on making his dreams come true

Lansing greenlit 1996's "Mission: Impossible," the movie that began Cruise's producing career. As a studio head, Lansing admitted she was initially concerned that Cruise, already one of the biggest stars in the world, wanted to take on a movie version of the classic TV ensemble drama.

But Lansing's fears of diluting Cruise's star power with a movie ensemble disappeared when she read the first draft script Cruise sent over.

"I have to admit that I was delighted to find that in the very first few pages of the script, the entire 'Mission: Impossible' team is killed, except for Ethan Hunt, which is Tom's character," said Lansing. "And he spends the rest of the movie avenging their murders."

Cruise recalled his early days shooting "Taps" with Timothy Hutton and then-newcomer Sean Penn.

"I was certain this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life," Cruise said, recalling that he studied the movie-making process. "I was overwhelmed by what I didn’t know."

Tom Cruise thanks movie audience for 'Tom Gun: Maverick'

Cruise thanked Jerry Bruckheimer, his producer of the original 1986 “Top Gun” and his producing partner on the long-awaited sequel "Maverick."

"You opened the door for me," Cruise told Bruckheimer. "You welcomed me in and I will be grateful forever."

Cruise paid tribute to the producers in the ballroom along with mentors like Steven Spielberg and Lansing,

"You’ve all enabled me the adventurous life that I wanted,” he said.

Cruise has been lauded for fighting to keep the theatrical window for "Top Gun: Maverick" despite pandemic theater closures. At the PGA, Cruise gave thanks to movie audiences "for whom I work first and foremost. Thank you for letting me entertain you, and I promise I'll always do everything I can to accomplish that goal."

Other movies (and TV) honored by the PGA:

•  "Navalny" won for best documentary feature,
• “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,”  took best animated film.
• "Till" won the Stanley Kramer Award honoring a production or producer that illuminates and raises public awareness of important social issues.
• TV's “The Bear” won for best comedy.
• “The White Lotus” won for best drama.
• “Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls” won for best reality or competition series.
•  “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” won for non-fiction series, “The Dropout” won best limited series and “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” won best TV movie.
• Mindy Kaling received the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television for her work producing shows including “The Mindy Project,” “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” “Never Have I Ever,” “Velma” and “The Office.”

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• 64 wins & 119 nominations total

Photos 1992

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• Chief John Anderton
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• Pre-production

• Capt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell

• Team Member

• Nick Morton

• Jack Reacher

• Stacee Jaxx

• Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg
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• In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

• Tomu Kurûzu
• 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
• July 3 , 1962
• Syracuse, New York, USA
• Spouses Katie Holmes November 18, 2006 - August 20, 2012 (divorced, 1 child)
• Children Isabella Jane Cruise
• Parents Thomas Mapother III
• Relatives William Mapother (Cousin)
• Other works Played Nathan Detroit in a high school production of "Guys and Dolls"
• 12 Print Biographies
• 9 Portrayals
• 32 Interviews
• 145 Articles
• 21 Pictorials
• 764 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

• Trivia His acting idol is Paul Newman . Much to the delight of Cruise, they became good friends during work on The Color of Money (1986) . Newman got him into racing, and Cruise ultimately raced on his team.
• Quotes The thing about filmmaking is I give it everything, that's why I work so hard. I always tell young actors to take charge. It's not that hard. Sign your own checks, be responsible.
• Trademarks Often plays romantic leading men with an edge
• Salaries Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two ( 2025 ) $13,000,000 + % of back end
• How old is Tom Cruise?
• When was Tom Cruise born?
• Where was Tom Cruise born?

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TOM CRUISE is a global cultural icon who has made an immeasurable impact on cinema by creating some of the most memorable characters of all time. Having achieved extraordinary success as an actor, producer and philanthropist in a career spanning over three decades, Cruise is a three-time Oscar® nominee and three-time Golden Globe Award® winner whose films have earned over $10 billion in worldwide box office—an incomparable accomplishment. Eighteen of Cruise’s films have grossed over $100 million domestically, and a record 23 have made more than $200 million globally. His latest film, Mission: Impossible – Fallout has made over $775 million worldwide becoming Cruise’s most successful film to date.

Cruise has starred in numerous legendary films such as Top Gun, Jerry Maguire, Risky Business, Minority Report, Interview with the Vampire, A Few Good Men, The Firm, Rain Man, Collateral, The Last Samurai, Edge of Tomorrow, The Color of Money and the Mission: Impossible series, among many others. Combined, the Mission: Impossible franchise has brought in over $3.5 billion since Cruise conceived the idea for a film adaptation of the classic television series and produced the first in 1996. He is currently in production on the long-awaited sequel to Top Gun.

A consummate filmmaker involved in all aspects of production, Cruise has proven his versatility with the films and roles he chooses. He has made 43 films, contributing in a producing role on many of them, and collaborated with a remarkable list of celebrated film directors including Francis Ford Coppola, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Martin Scorsese, Barry Levinson, Oliver Stone, Ron Howard, Rob Reiner, Sydney Pollack, Neil Jordan, Brian De Palma, Cameron Crowe, Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ed Zwick, Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann, J.J. Abrams, Robert Redford, Brad Bird, Doug Liman and Christopher McQuarrie.

Cruise received Academy Award® nominations for Best Actor for Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire. He was a Best Supporting Actor nominee for Magnolia and won Golden Globes (Best Actor) for Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire, in addition to a Best Supporting Actor prize for Magnolia. He also received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in Risky Business, A Few Good Men and The Last Samurai. Cruise has earned acting nominations and awards from BAFTA, the Screen Actors Guild, the Chicago Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review.

Cruise’s previous few films include the critically acclaimed American Made, The Mummy, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Oblivion and the suspense thriller Jack Reacher, which earned $218 million worldwide. Prior to that, he made a memorable appearance in Ben Stiller’s comedy smash Tropic Thunder, as the foul-mouthed Hollywood movie mogul Les Grossman. This performance, based on a character Cruise created, earned him praise from critics and audiences as well as his seventh Golden Globe nomination.

Cruise has been honored with tributes ranging from Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Man of the Year Award to the John Huston Award from the Artists Rights Foundation and the American Cinematheque Award for Distinguished Achievement in Film. In addition to his artistic contributions, Cruise has used his professional success as a vehicle for positive change, becoming an international advocate, activist and philanthropist in the fields of health, education and human rights. He has been honored by the Mentor LA organization for his work on behalf of the children of Los Angeles and around the world. In 2011 Cruise received the Simon Wiesenthal Humanitarian Award and the following year he received the Entertainment Icon Award from the Friars Club for his outstanding accomplishments in the entertainment industry and in the humanities. He is the fourth person to receive this honor after Douglas Fairbanks, Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra. Empire magazine awarded Cruise its Legend of Our Lifetime Award in 2014. Most recently, Cruise was the first actor to receive The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation’s Pioneer of the Year Award in 2018.

• Top Gun: Maverick (2021)
• Mission: Impossible Fallout (2018)
• American Made (2017)
• The Mummy (2017)
• Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
• Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015)
• Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
• Oblivion (2013)
• Jack Reacher (2012)
• Rock of Ages (2012)
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
• Knight and Day (2010)
• Valkyrie (2008)
• Tropic Thunder (2008)
• Lions for Lambs (2007)
• Mission: Impossible 3 (2006)
• War of the Worlds (2005)
• Collateral (2004)
• The Last Samurai (2003)
• Minority Report (2002)
• Vanilla Sky (2002)
• Mission: Impossible 2 (2001)
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
• Magnolia (1999)
• Jerry Maguire (1996)
• Mission: Impossible (1996)
• Interview with the Vampire (1994)
• The Firm (1993)
• A Few Good Men (1992)
• Far and Away (1992)
• Days of Thunder (1990)
• Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
• Rain Man (1988)
• Cocktail (1988)
• The Color of Money (1986)
• Top Gun (1986)
• Legend (1985)
• Risky Business (1983)
• All the Right Moves (1983)
• The Outsiders (1983)
• Losin’ It (1983)
• Taps (1981)
• Endless Love (1981)