Tom Cruise is still charting his work trip to space.
Back in 2020 it was revealed that the actor was planning to film a movie in outer space.
While at the Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One premiere in New York City this week, Cruise, 61, was asked about the status of the space-exploring film.
“We’ve been working on it diligently,” he teased to Variety. “We’ll see where we go.”
The project was first announced by NASA back in 2020, days after a report came out claiming Cruise was looking to space for cinematic inspiration.
NASA director Jim Bridenstein led the charge: “NASA is excited to work with @TomCruise 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.”
Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, tacked onto the excitement. “Should be a lot of fun!” Musk replied in a tweet.
Weeks later, Deadline reported that the project had confirmed Doug Liman to direct. Cruise and Liman previously worked together on 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow and 2017’s American Made.
Two years later, Universal Pictures executive Donna Langley confirmed the movie’s production in an interview with BBC News.
“I think Tom Cruise is taking us to space. He’s taking the world to space,” Langley said. “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 space walk outside of the Space Station.”
The upcoming film, which Langley said Cruise pitched to her over a Zoom call during the pandemic, has a budget in the area of $200 million, according to Variety.
“During the pandemic he asked for a Zoom call with us and got onto the call and said, ‘Guys, I’ve got this great project and here it is,’ ” Langley said. “The majority of the story actually takes place on Earth and then the character needs to go up to space to save the day.”
While Cruise works “diligently” on his space film, he is currently rolling out his latest Mission: Impossible movie. While Dead Reckoning Part One can be found in theaters now, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie admitted that Part Two is yet to be completed.
“We finish this tour, and on our way back to the U.K. we stop to scout along the way. We hit the ground running as soon as we get back,” McQuarrie told Variety. “I get two days of vacation between here and Tokyo and I’m back on.”
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