Tom Cruise, first actor to film in space!

One thing is for certain when it comes to Tom Cruise: He can always outdo himself. After numerous breathtaking stunts, the veteran actor is set to shoot his next movie in outer space. Talk about an idea that’s out of this world.

The 60-year-old has teamed up with “Bourne Identity” director Doug Liman on a movie pitch that involves filming in space. The idea was born during 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic put a pause to it.

Cruise and Liman reportedly reached out to Universal Filmed Entertainment Group – also known as UFEG –  to pitch the idea which will make Tom Cruise the first actor to film in space, more specifically, The International Space Station.

Tom Cruise will take a rocket up to the ISS

“I think Tom Cruise is taking us to space, he’s taking the world to space,” said Donna Langley, UFEG Chairwoman. “That’s the plan. We have a great project in development with Tom… Taking a rocket up to the Space Station and shooting.”

Langley shared that the majority of the movie will be filmed on earth. The culmination will see “the character going up to space to save the day,” she added. The chairwoman is hopeful that Cruise will be “the first civilian to do a space walk outside of the space station.”

The ambitious movie would require every crew member to be flown out of the planet itself via a rocket. The budget can only be described as skyrocketing, literally.

Christopher McQuarrie, the man behind the entire “Mission: Impossible” series, is co-writing the script

Tom Cruise has been thinking about this for a long time

Back in May 2020, NASA confirmed that they were in talks with Cruise and SpaceX on a film project that was unrelated to the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. “We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make NASA’s ambitious plans a reality,” Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, wrote at the time.

Cruise has some experience with space; He was the narrator of the ISS experience in the 2002 IMAX documentary “Space Station 3D.”

Who is Donna Langley

Donna Langley is one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. After thirty years on the business, she has turned Universal’s fortunes around and is known as a down to earth person. Besides this last project; this one is outside of this world.

During her time in the industry, Langley has often taken chances and risks no one else would take. She prides herself on her gut instinct.” She famously championed “Straight Outta Compton,” which made $210 million in box offices worldwide. Langley also fought for “Mamma Mia” to be made, when others weren’t convinced. The movie went on to earn $600 million worldwide.

“They are films that I didn’t see as inherently risky. It’s easy for me to sit here with you today and say that, when the proof is in the pudding,” she told BBC.

Her past decisions shed a light into the ambitious project Langley is backing with Tom Cruise at the front. If she has gone against the odds and won, chances are she will again.

At this point in time, the idea is still just an idea. Considering Cruise’s determination and Langley’s gut, that aspiration will soon turn into reality.

Tom Cruise’s famous stunts

Cruise is known for not relying on CGI technology and doing his own death-defying stunts. In “Ghost Protocol,” Cruise ran down the side of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. In “Rogue Nation,” he clung to the side of a plane in midair.

To put a perspective to the actors dedication, director Christopher McQuarrie answered a question on Twitter that asked whether are any stunts that he and Tom Cruise wanted to do but have proven to be impossible to pull off.

“On Friday morning, I told Tom that the technology to film a specific stunt simply did not exist. By six o’clock it existed,” he wrote in a since deleted Tweet.

Cruise and McQuarrie, who have collaborated on the aforementioned “Mission: Impossible” movies, are developing another new, groundbreaking stunt. Neither of them have revealed where the stunt will appear in. It is unlikely that the scene will appear in either “Dead Reckoning Part One or Two,” because principal photography wrapped on those films in September 2021. It could be part of a reshoot, but chances are that the stunt will be part of an upcoming film Cruise and McQuarrie are working on.

The actor and the director are currently collaboration on at least four films including a new action franchise, a musical and a new collaboration with the director of “Tropic Thunder.”

Is this the first movie shot in space?

You would be surprised, but this is not the first movie to be filmed in space.

A Russian crew beat Tom Cruise to it. In October 2021, the crew flew to ISS to shoot parts of a feature film, much like the Hollywood actor’s idea. A Russian actor and a director spent 12 days on the ISS.

Tom Cruise’s last project

Cruise saw great success with his return as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in “Top Gun: Maverick,” sequel to the 1986 movie. It was almost certain that the movie would be a blockbuster, but no one could have predicted how much. Worldwide, it grossed a whopping total of $1.48 billion and continues to gain more day by day, besides being available only on VOD.