For years, many have joked that a future installment of the Mission Impossible franchise would be shot in space, given actor Tom Cruise’s proclivity for undertaking his own, dangerous stunts for just about every action film he’s been in.
Now, Cruise is actually headed to space, according to NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who said that the space agency will collaborate with the actor for a film aboard the International Space Station.
Last night, Deadline broke the story that Cruise was collaborating with SpaceX to shoot the “first narrative feature film—an action adventure to be shot in outer space.” Bridenstine confirmed the project in a Tweet this afternoon, saying that the film would be set aboard the ISS.
https://twitter.com/JimBridenstine/status/1257752395750289409
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NASA has long collaborated with studios to ensure that it’s depicted in a fair light, providing support for films like Apollo 13, Armageddon, Mission to Mars, and others. The agency has also helped support major documentaries, sending up IMAX cameras into orbit to collect fantastic imagery. The agency has recognized the potential that science fiction holds for the general public, and by being part of the production, they can help add a bit of realism to impart a better idea of the science and technology that goes into real-world space travel.
But this appears to be the first time that an actual film will be shot in orbit. Cruise is well-known for the work that he puts into learning how to undertake his own stunts and to fly planes, and of all the actors in Hollywood, he’s probably the most qualified person to actually undertake such a project.
Deadline noted that the project was still in its early stages, and that there aren’t any studios involved at this point. SpaceX is set to launch its first astronauts to the ISS from US soil on May 27th aboard a Falcon 9 rocket—a significant milestone for the company. Presumably, Cruise will head up to the station aboard one of the company’s rockets.
Whenever and however this film eventually comes to fruition—if it ever does—NASA is clearly banking on the publicity that it’ll generate as it works to try and return to the Moon in the next decade.
Dang, I was prophetic. Back in 1992-3, early in my writing career and before I ever sold anything, I wrote my first spec novel, which was about the making of the first feature film shot in outer space. The title was On Location (inspired by the gag credit in the Star Wars spoof film Hardware Wars: “Filmed on location in space.”) In the book, the project was conceived in 2020 and filmed in 2022-3. Although in my story, the filmmakers tagged along with a colony expedition to Mars, because back in the ’90s we expected space exploration to progress a lot faster than it has. But I got the timing just about right where the movie part was concerned.
When Colin Trevorrow first developed Rise of Skywalker – back when it was still called Duel of the Fates -, he was a proponent of shooting at least some shots in actual outer space.
So who else was reminded of Clarke’s Islands in the Sky?
Oh well still can’t believe it!
It’s not first! “Return from Orbit” was filmed in space in 1983.
At one point I used to think that my little joke about Mr Tom Cruise using a Hollywood Action Movie career as cover for his REAL life’s work as a super-secret agent was nothing more than a gag – by this point it’s blown past ‘conspiracy theory’ and is rapidly heading towards ‘Actual Fact’.
I wonder who’s been smuggling Alien Dream Weed down from the ISS?
Wonder what that film budget is going to look like? At least they can double-categorize the launch expense as promotion.
There are a couple other big name Hollywood actors who are also space geeks. I wonder if they’d want to get in on the action, even if they work just for scale.
I can’t imagine what the insurance fees will be like. How can you even begin to budget something like this?
Because research, right?
Manned spaceflight is just a stunt.