Tom Cruise opposed aliens in the 2005 War of the Worlds, but he has never made a film in space.
Paramount Pictures
Get ready for a film concept that is out of this world. Actors Tom Cruise and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are working on a project with NASA to make an action film in space. Cruise and SpaceX officials did not immediately respond to requests for comments, but NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine confirmed the message in a tweet on Tuesday.
“NASA is excited to work with Tom Cruise on a film aboard the space station!” he wrote. “We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make NASA’s ambitious plans come true.”
While NASA gave no further details, Deadline brought the news on Monday in an article straight from the parody newspaper The Onion. The deadline report says, “It’s not a Mission: Impossible film and there is currently no studio in the mix.” The film would be the first narrative feature film to be shot in space, and although details are incomplete, the report says it was shot in “Musk’s spaceship”.
Neither NASA nor SpaceX have confirmed SpaceX’s involvement in the film, and the deadline report did not mention the ISS. However, the first launch of astronauts to the International Space Station on board a SpaceX spacecraft is scheduled for May 27, Bridenstine said last week. Cruise was not mentioned or when he could board a spacecraft.
Cruise is known for taking daring risks while making his films. He scaled the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, for the film Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol 2011. And Musk is not new to the entertainment world. He has appeared in numerous films and TV shows and often played himself. In 2019, Musk pronounced a mutated version on its own Elon Tusk in the Adult Swim animation show Rick and Morty.
May 5, 3:45 p.m. PT: Updated with NASA confirmation.