How Much Of Tom Cruise’s Space Movie Is Actually Going To Be Set In Space?

Tom Cruise isn’t just a massive movie star but he’s a movie star that is so dedicated to his craft that he rarely, if ever, lets a stuntman take over. Cruise has hung from helicopters, done HALO jumps, and jumped off mountains for the Mission: Impossible franchise , and reports are that an upcoming Tom Cruise movie will literally put the actor in space. Now we have a bit of an idea just how much of the movie would put Cruise in space, and while it’s not a lot, it should be enough.
In an interview with the BBC , Chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group Donna Langley talks about the project, which would film in and around the International Space Station, and yes, I do mean, around, as the movie, if it happens as planned, would make Tom Cruise the first civilian to do a spacewalk. Langley explains…
I think Tom Cruise is taking us to space. He’s taking the world to space but yeah, that’s the plan. We have a great project in development with Tom that does contemplate him doing just that, yeah, taking a rocket up to the space station and shooting and hopefully being the first civilian to do a space walk outside of the space station.
Langley says that that the project is in development, and that it “contemplates” Tom Cruise flying up to the space station to film this movie, so this is clearly far from a done deal. There are likely going to be a lot of potential hurdles in the way of Tom Cruise filming in space and doing a spacewalk, and that’s on top of all the regular hurdles that every major Hollywood production has to overcome in order to actually become a movie.
It perhaps unsurprising to learn that the entire idea of “Tom Cruise goes to space” came directly from the actor himself. Not only is Cruise willing to do all his own stunts, he clearly enjoys doing them and wants to push the envelope and try new things. I suppose after you’ve done a HALO jump for a Mission: Impossible movie, the only way to top that is to increase the altitude until you’re literally in space.
Assuming this movie does happen, however, fans will apparently need to wait a bit for all the cool outer space action. Langley reveals that it’s only the finale of the movie that takes place in space, but that will of course make the end of this particular movie one for the record books. Langley continues…
It was Tom directly, and he collaborates very closely with a director called Doug Liman. And during the pandemic, he asked for a Zoom call with us and got on onto the call and said, ‘Guys, I’ve got this great project and and here it is.’ So the majority of the story actually takes place on Earth and then the character needs to go up to space to save the day.
To be fair, getting an entire movie of Tom Cruise in space was going to be a tall order. Of course, once Tom Cruise gets a taste for making movies in space, he may decide he wants to push the envelope even further, and maybe then we will get the first movie shot entirely in outer space where Tom Cruise becomes the first civilian to pilot a shuttle. I’m not betting against it.