BEIJING, Aug. 31 -- Tom Cruise's popularity has officially fallen by 40 percent in the last 18 months.

    The "Top Gun" star was dropped by Paramount last week, and now official figures, known in the marketing industry as Q scores have emerged and given an indication as to why.

Enter Photo Gallery>>

    A Q score measures the popularity of celebrities, TV shows and products to give advertisers and marketing companies and idea of their value.

    Marketing Evaluations Incorporated, the company that calculates Q scores, have found that Tom's Q score has fallen by 40 percent and the negative perception of the actor, who is a devout follower of Scientology, has increased by a massive 100 percent.

    This week it was also revealed that the "Mission Impossible" star is the celebrity people would least like as their best friend.

    In the UK, 2,373 people were asked to choose who, out of 11 actors they would have as their best pal.

    Tom Cruise came bottom with just 3 per cent, while the winner was "School of Rock" star Jack Black.

    Among the strange things Tom has done in the last 18 months include the now infamous couch-jumping incident on Oprah Winfrey's chat show, publicly proposing to fiancee Katie Holmes at the top of the Eiffel Tower and speaking out against the use of antidepressants to treat postpartum depression in accordance with his Scientology beliefs.

    (Source: Chinadaily.com.cn/Agencies)