Movie star Tom Cruise is known for his commitment to doing as many of his own stunts as he can and as realistically as possible. Now Cruise’s latest movie project is set to take him to space — not green-screened Hollywood space, but actual outer space.
On Monday, the Hollywood news publication Deadline Hollywood first reported Cruise had teamed with Elon Musk and SpaceX for Cruise’s next movie to be set aboard the International Space Station (ISS). On Tuesday, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine appeared to confirm the project in a tweet.
“NASA is excited to work with Tom Cruise on a film aboard the Space Station! We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make NASA’s ambitious plans a reality,” Bridenstine tweeted.
NASA is excited to work with @TomCruise on a film aboard the @Space_Station! We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make @NASA’s ambitious plans a reality. pic.twitter.com/CaPwfXtfUv
— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) May 5, 2020
Neither NASA nor Musk has specifically confirmed his or SpaceX’s involvement in the movie, though Musk did reply to Bridenstine’s tweet, saying, “Should be a lot of fun!”
Should be a lot of fun!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 5, 2020
Cruise’s methodical commitment to film roles has been documented in a number of instances. The release date on the ‘Top Gun’ sequel ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ was reportedly delayed after the actor pushed to become certified to fly in a fighter jet. The movie also included filming aboard USS Abraham Lincoln while it was based in Norfolk, Va.
During the filming of the most recent installment in the “Mission Impossible” franchise, “Mission Impossible: Fallout,” Cruise broke his ankle while jumping between a pair of London rooftops. During his filming for another installment of the franchise, “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol,” Tom Cruise scaled the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
The name of Cruise’s space movie has not yet been revealed, though Deadline reported it is not a “Mission Impossible” film.
Musk’s involvement in the film is also not far fetched as he has had minor roles in numerous films over the years, though he often plays himself or a character based on himself.
Musk’s work with SpaceX has also kept him in close coordination with NASA on a number of projects. SpaceX was recently awarded a contract to compete against Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space company and another space company Dynetics, to develop a lunar lander for the next manned space mission, scheduled for 2024. The space missions are being described as the Artemis generation of moon missions, following the original Apollo moon missions.
