Tom Cruise & Bon Jovi Share A Bizarre Western Cameo Trend In Common

Summary

• Tom Cruise and Jon Bon Jovi made uncredited, brief cameo appearances in the Young Guns franchise.
• Young Guns, followed by its sequel, played a crucial role in the revival of the Western genre in the 1990s.
• A third Young Guns film has been written and prepped, but its future is uncertain; if it happens, it should continue the tradition of hidden cameos.

On the surface, Tom Cruise and Jon Bon Jovi may not appear to have much in common, but they both share a unique Western trait in common. Without a doubt, the 1980s was the worst time for Westerns, thanks to the box-office failure of Heaven’s Gate. This 1980 epic cost a staggering (for the time) $44 million to produce, and grossed less than a tenth of that back at the box office. In the aftermath, studios avoided Westerns like the plague, with Clint Eastwood’s genre comeback Pale Rider being a rare exception.

It was the Brat Pack who saved Westerns with Young Guns, which followed Emilio Estevez’s Billy the Kid and his pack of “Regulators.” The movie co-starred Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland, and its success predicted the short-lived Western revival of the 1990s. If Young Guns hadn’t succeeded and proved audiences would still turn up for the genre, there may not have been films like Dances with Wolves or Tombstone. Estevez is planning a third outing dubbed Young Guns 3: Alias Billy the Kid, which will reunite the surviving characters of the first two outings for a new adventure.

Both Tom Cruise & Bon Jovi Made Uncredited Cameos In The Young Guns Franchise

Cruise and Bon Jovi have the definition of “blink and you’ll miss ’em” roles

Tom Cruise and rocker Jon Bon Jovi share this strange Young Guns cameo trend in common, with both having mute appearances as characters who get gunned down in the first and second movies, respectively.

The Young Guns duology had a hell of a cast, with the likes of Viggo Mortensen, Alan Ruck and John Wayne’s son Patrick playing supporting roles. It’s a fairly common piece of trivia that Tom Cruise has a tiny cameo in Young Guns, playing a gunman in the finale who is gunned down by Casey Siemaszko’s Charlie. Reportedly, Cruise was visiting his pal Estevez during filming, and having never taken part in a gunfight onscreen before, was given a chance to dress up and play cowboy for a day.

Emilio Estevez seemingly repaid Tom Cruise’s
Young Guns
cameo by appearing in an uncredited role in 1996’s
Mission: Impossible
.

Tom Cruise and rocker Jon Bon Jovi share this strange Young Guns cameo trend in common, with both having mute appearances as characters who get gunned down in the first and second movies, respectively. In Bon Jovi’s case, he was approached by Estevez about using his song “Wanted Dead or Alive” for Young Guns 2; instead, the rocker dedicated his entire first solo album to writing songs inspired by the sequel.

This includes the iconic “Blaze of Glory,” and while working on the album, Bon Jovi made his acting debut in Young Guns 2 as a bandit trapped in a pit alongside Doc (Sutherland) and Chavez (Lou Diamond Phillips). Like Cruise before him, his role is wordless, and he’s quickly gunned down during the escape scene.

Young Guns 3 Must Keep This Hidden Cameo Tradition Alive

The third Guns must keep this accidental trend going

During a July 2024 interview on the Inside of You podcast, Lou Diamond Phillips revealed that despite a third Young Guns having been written and prepped, the rights holders “put the kibosh on it” for the moment. Time will tell if the third adventure ever mounts up, but with renewed interest in the Brat Pack thanks to Andrew McCarthy’s Brats documentary, maybe it could finally move ahead. If Young Guns 3 happens, it should keep the tradition of hiding a megastar in the background of a random scene alive.

The films could keep things in the Brat Pack family, and give a hidden cameo to the likes of Rob Lowe or Demi Moore. Unfortunately, Kiefer Sutherland’s Doc was gunned down in Young Guns 2, but perhaps he could appear next time as an extra gunned down by Estevez’s older Billy the Kid. If the filmmakers want to aim sky high with this cameo gag, somebody should give the Brat Pack adjacent Robert Downey Jr. a call.

Source: Inside of You, Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes