NASA is working with Tom Cruise to film the first movie shot in space, according to NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. The details of the project aren’t clear, but Bridenstine says the film will take place aboard the International Space Station.
We don’t know yet how Cruise will be participating in the adventure, but he’s well-known for performing increasingly impressive stunts in his recent films, including clutching the side of an Airbus A400 as it takes off in 2015’s Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation. It’s hard to think of a more difficult stunt to pull than making a feature film in space.
News of a possible collaboration between Cruise and NASA was first reported by Deadline. The report said that Cruise was working with SpaceX to shoot the film, though neither NASA nor SpaceX has confirmed that speculation. SpaceX did announce in February that it will launch four private citizens to orbit around Earth at the end of 2021 or in early 2022. The passengers are set to fly in SpaceX’s newly developed Crew Dragon spacecraft, which is slated to fly its first NASA astronauts to the International Space Station later this month.
When asked for comment, NASA declined to provide more details. “We will say more about the project at the appropriate time,” a NASA spokesperson told The Verge. “Anything else would be premature.” Hours later, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted at Bridenstine: “Should be a lot of fun!”
Update May 5th, 8:08PM ET: This post was updated to include a statement from NASA and an Elon Musk tweet.