Tom Cruise is in talks with Nasa about shooting a film in space, according to the head of the US space agency.
Sky News reports that the 57-year-old actor “is set to board the International Space Station to film the first narrative feature outside Earth”.
Confirming the news, Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted: “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.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Bridenstine gave no further details about the project, but according to Hollywood-focused magazine Deadline, SpaceX founder Elon Musk is also involved.
Musk has not confirmed the claim, but gave the production the thumbs-up in a tweeted reply to Bridenstine.
According to Deadline, the space-based action adventure movie will not be part of the Mission Impossible series and “no studio is in the mix at this stage”.
As The Guardian notes, Cruise is famous for his “daredevil films and for doing his own stunts”.
The American actor “flew fighter jets” for the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick, and “hung off the side of a plane as it took off” and “climbed the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai” for the Mission Impossible films.
A few previous films have been shot on board the space station, including a 2002 IMAX documentary that Cruise narrated and 2012’s Apogee of Fear, reports CNN.
But Cruise’s next project could see him become the “first actor to endure extraterrestrial travel”, says the US news network.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
