Seemingly not content with chucking himself off scarily high places, stunt-loving star Tom Cruise looks set to become the first Hollywood actor to shoot a major motion picture in space.
News of Cruise’s as-yet-untitled space movie initially arrived online in 2020 and since then, the actor has delivered a double-punch of huge hits including 2021’s Top Gun: Maverick and the first instalment of Missing: Impossible’s latest two-parter Dead Reckoning.
Both were massive hits with fans and critics alike — and if you believe filmmaking icon Steven Spielberg — the latter even saved cinema during its darkest hour.
In fact, with his addiction to death-defying stunts showing no signs of slowing, it sometimes feels like there’s nothing Cruise can’t do. With that in mind, what better actor is there to go where no actor has ever gone before and embark on the first American feature film ever made in the inky void above our heads?
Here’s everything we know about Cruise’s space flick so far.
Tom Cruise space movie release date
Despite being announced back in 2020 and with those close to the project delivering a steady stream of updates, Cruise’s high-flying space movie doesn’t have a solid release date yet.
With the film yet to enter production, it’s unlikely that one will be unveiled anytime soon. Plus, Cruise has a second Mission to un-Impossible before he starts work on anything new, with Dead Reckoning Part Two coming to cinemas in 2024.
With this in mind, it could be 2025 or 2026 before Cruise’s space epic lands in our orbit.
What is the plot of Tom Cruise’s space movie?
When the project was first announced, Variety billed it as a film that would “make history” as the “first narrative feature shot in space.” However, as more time has passed, a few more details have come to light that clue us in on what this groundbreaking space adventure might look like.
The project will be produced by Universal Pictures and helmed by Doug Liman, a filmmaker that Cruise has collaborated with before on 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow and 2017’s American Made. The film reportedly has a budget of around $200 million (£153million) and has recruited the assistance of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and NASA who will allow the production to shoot on the International Space Station.
Additional details were unveiled by the head of Universal Pictures, Donna Langley, who told the BBC “Tom Cruise is taking us to space. He’s 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. 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.”
Langley also spilt some beans regarding the film’s plot, revealing that the movie “actually [mostly] takes place on Earth, and then the character needs to go up to space to save the day.” According to Universal, Cruise will play a down-on-his-luck everyman that soon discovers he’s the only person who can save the world via a quick trip to space.
If all goes to plan, the movie will be a landmark, as no Hollywood production has ever attempted to helm a movie in the dangerous surroundings of outer space.
Liman spoke to Thrillist about being the person responsible for helming such a project, explaining that “when a producer proposes something crazy to you, like, let’s try to shoot a movie in outer space, and NASA and SpaceX sign on, and Tom Cruise signs on… you’re just a little bit more receptive.”
Cut to 2023 and during a red carpet premiere of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Cruise confirmed that he and Liman were “working on it diligently and we’ll see where we go” but noted that the movie did not yet have an official start date.
These comments were similarly confirmed by ITV, who captured Cruise saying: “We’re working on that. I’m working on that, definitely,” when asked about his space movie.
“I’ve always wanted to do that… We’ve been doing a lot of research for years.”
While no American-made film production has ever captured a movie in space, the blank void has been used as a backdrop for a film before. Russian-made feature The Challenge came out earlier this year and reportedly took its cast for a 12-day shoot in space.
Tom Cruise space movie cast
With the movie still firmly in pre-production, it’s currently unclear who might join Cruise on his latest nail-biting adventure.
The project’s official IMDB page currently only lists the Top Gun actor as its sole star. However, we’re sure more faces will join him as the film prepares for takeoff.
Tom Cruise space movie trailer
If you came here looking for a stunt-filled trailer for Cruise’s new space movie, then unfortunately we can’t show you the money. Much like details of the movie’s cast, it’s just a bit too early to expect any video clips or full trailers for this one. However, as soon as they land, you’ll find them here.