8 Years Later, Tom Cruise’s Ridiculous True Crime Movie Is a Streaming Hit

One glance at the streaming charts will prove that, in terms of sheer popularity, Tom Cruise is unmatched. His two Jack Reacher movies — Jack Reacher and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back — are dominating not only the Netflix charts, but are also knocking down competition on the Paramount+ leader board. Another Cruise super-hit, Top Gun: Maverick, is leading the pack over on Paramount+, while a fourth film starring Cruise is bringing up the rear. According to FlixPatrol, the streamer’s domestic charts witnessed the return of Cruise’s American Made earlier this week.

Released in 2017, it remains the last mid-budget movie on the star’s resume, before he busied himself with franchise films such as The Mummy, Mission: Impossible — Fallout, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, and Maverick. Produced on a reported budget of around $50 million, American Madegrossed around $135 million worldwide — a remarkably low haul, considering the peaks Cruise would climb only a few years later with Maverick. The movie marked his reunion with director Doug Liman, with whom he’d worked on the cult hit Edge of Tomorrow. They’ve also been mulling over an ambitious new movie that will partially be shot in space.

American Made was based on the unbelievable true story of a pilot who became a drug mule for the Medellín Cartel, and then, after getting busted, became an informer for the DEA. The movie also earned positive reviews, and is now sitting at a “certified fresh” 85% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “American Made‘s fast-and-loose attitude with its real-life story mirrors the cavalier — and delightfully watchable — energy Tom Cruise gives off in the leading role.” Also featuring Domhnall Gleeson, Caleb Landry Jones, Jesse Plemons, and Sarah Wright, American Made has built a solid cult following in the years since its release, even as Cruise and Liman have both gone their different ways.

Doug Liman Has a Beef With Amazon

Doug Liman has stayed true to his unpredictable self, and has made everything from the record-breaking Prime Video Road House remake to the failed franchise-starter Chaos Walking and the pandemic-era experiment Locked Down. He’s currently involved in a public feud against Amazon over Road House 2, and is reportedly setting up a production to rival that of the studio, with whom he developed a grudge over the first film’s release.

Watch American Made at home, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.