#8 Tom Cruise

#8 Tom Cruise
06.14.07, 6:00 PM ET
© Matt Sayles/AP Photo

Power Rank 8 Pay $31 mil Category: Actors Pay Rank: 36 Web Rank: 8 Press Rank: 10 TV/Radio Rank: 7

After being dumped by Paramount last summer, Cruise, who topped last year's Celebrity 100, plotted his comeback (with longtime producing partner Paula Wagner) as head of United Artists, the moribund studio under MGM. UA's lineup: Lions for Lambs, directed by Robert Redford, for release this winter; Valkyrie, a World War II thriller, in production now. Cruise stars in both. Word is he'll join comedy kingpin Ben Stiller in Hardy Men, a send-up of the Hardy Boys series. On the personal front, Cruise enjoyed a decidedly quiet year with his wife, actress Katie Holmes, and their toddler Suri.