Tom Cruise plans to film a movie in space — and could be the first civilian to do a spacewalk
Tom Cruise's next mission could make history. If the plans for an upcoming film come through, he would fly to space to film the moment where he helps save the planet.
Donna Langley, chairman of Universal Film Entertainment Group, told the BBC in an interview last week that the 60-year-old "Mission Impossible" and "Top Gun" actor will be "taking the world to space."
"That's the plan. We have a great project in development with Tom that does contemplate him doing just that," she said, "taking a rocket up to the space station and shooting and hopefully being the first civilian to do a spacewalk outside of the space station."
She said the film request came from Cruise directly and that he is in close collaboration with director Doug Liman, who previously worked with Cruise in 2014's "Edge of Tomorrow" and is also known for "The Bourne Identity" franchise, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and "Jumper."
"During the pandemic, he asked for a Zoom call with us and got onto the call and said, 'Guys, I have this great project and here it is,'" Langley recalled in the interview.
The title and details of the film have not been announced, but Langley said the majority of the story will take place on Earth before Cruise's character "needs to go up to space to save the day."
The project was first confirmed in 2020 by NASA's then-director Jim Bridenstine. Deadline reported at that time that Elon Musk's SpaceX was also going to collaborate on the film.
Space Entertainment Enterprise announced in January this year that it would work with Axiom Space to build a content and entertainment studio and "multi-purpose arena" space station module. The venture, called SEE-1, is planned to launch in late 2024 and would be connected to the Axiom Station, a commercial module planned for the International Space Station.
Last year, Russian actress Julia Peresild and filmmaker Klim Shipenko spent 12 days aboard the International Space Station working on the first feature film shot in space, with Peresild playing s a doctor making an emergency house call in orbit.