Holiday Movies: Actors Over 50 Hit The Big Screen This Season

Despite a year of personal troubles that included the end of his five-year marriage to actress Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise, 50, continues to cement his reputation as one of the hardest-working actors in Hollywood.

After garnering mostly good reviews from critics for his performance as Stacee Jaxx in "Rock of Ages" earlier this year, Cruise is set to star in "Jack Reacher," premiering December 15. As the film's title character, Cruise plays an investigator who looks into the case of a military sniper accused of killing five random victims.

But Cruise isn't the only post 50 actor starring in a holiday movie this year. Bruce Willis, 57, plays Dink Heimowitz, a high-stakes gambler whose wife is jealous of his sexy employee, in "Lay the Favorite," a movie being released December 7.

And James Gandolfini, 51, stars alongside Brad Pitt in the new film "Killing Them Softly." Both actors play hit men, two old friends hired to go after a band of wannabe criminals in a movie characterized as "incredibly violent." Indeed, Pitt, not too far from 50 at age 48, completely sheds the softer side he showed off in his recent Chanel commercials.

Check out our slideshow to see what else is in store for actors over 50 (with the exception of one, 48-year-old Russell Crowe ... but we're excited for his new movie as well!).