According to Donna Langley, chair of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, the firm is preparing to send Tom Cruise into space to shoot a movie. In weightlessness on the International Space Station, the actor would record just a portion of the movie. Although no launch date or release date for the project has been announced, it is rumoured to reunite Cruise with director Doug Liman, who previously directed the Oscar contender in the films American Made (2017) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014).

As a licenced skydiver, helicopter pilot, and well-known daredevil, Cruise is renowned for filming the high-flying action himself rather than using a stuntman or CGI substitute. For a scene in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, he is infamous for strapping himself to the side of an ascending plane, and for riding in fighter jets when filming Top Gun: Maverick. But for Cruise, 60, defying gravity and filming in space would be a first. Elon Musk’s private spaceflight business SpaceX, which has flown numerous crewed trips to the International Space Station, is the project’s prospective partner.

How Tom Cruise’s Space Film Would Transform the Industry

Any spaceflight, which is often manned by astronauts who have dedicated their life to planetary science, involves several extremely high stakes phases, including preparation, launch, separation from the booster stages, docking, and return to Earth. However, as rocketry becomes more efficient and commercial space corporations supplant NASA as the primary source of launches, space tourism is becoming more and more affordable. The Star Trek actor William Shatner and other civilians have travelled to space under limited circumstances, but Cruise would be the first to shoot a Hollywood motion picture in space. Jim Bridenstine, a former NASA administrator, stated his support for the movie’s premise and feels that a Tom Cruise-starring space movie that was filmed in orbit will motivate the next generation of scientists and engineers.

The movie would not be the first feature to be shot in space, despite the fact that doing so would be a huge accomplishment for NASA, Tom Cruise, and Hollywood. A feature film about a surgeon who must operate on their colleague cosmonaut before returning to Earth was filmed in 2021 with the help of two Russian actors who travelled to the International Space Station on board. While a typical stay on the International Space Station lasts roughly six months, the Russian film The Challenge shot its portion in space in just 12 days. It’s unknown if Cruise would take a return journey that was planned specifically for him or if he would spend a few months living with the astronauts.