Tom Cruise Reportedly Filming New Movie in Outer Space, With the Help of Elon Musk

Tom Cruise has some extra time on his hands due to the coronavirus pandemic forcing the new [...]

Tom Cruise has some extra time on his hands due to the coronavirus pandemic forcing the new Mission: Impossible movie to go on hold. In the meantime, his mind is racing for new crazy things to do to his body. He's run across rooftops, jumped from helicopters, precariously balanced from a string and managed to survive punching Henry Cavill's mustache. The only thing left to do is make a movie in space, which is exactly what he is reportedly doing.

Cruise is reportedly working with Elon Musk's Space X to make the first ever narrative feature film shot in outer space, according to Deadline. No studio is in talks for the movie, but it will be made in cooperation with NASA. It is also not clear what the plot for the film will be, or who is writing and producing it. Deadline described the project as being "in the early stages of liftoff."

Cruise was supposed to be filming Mission: Impossible 7, but production has been on hold since February. The movie was originally scheduled for July 23, 2021, but Paramount decided to push the movie to Nov. 19, 2021. Mission: Impossible 8 was also delayed from Aug. 5, 2022 to Nov. 4, 2022. Paramount also postponed Cruise's next blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick, from June 24 to Dec. 23.

M:I 7 was also going to feature scenes filmed in Italy, although that might not be easy when production is finally allowed to resume. Sources told Variety late last month that many Hollywood productions that planned to film scenes outside of the U.S. might not be able to because of travel restrictions. M:I producers are now debating whether to completely cut the entire Italian part of production or holding off until the end of the year. Even in that case, nothing is guaranteed as the pandemic could continue into the fall.

Cruise has played Ethan Hunt in all six Mission: Impossible movies. The franchise started almost 25 years ago and has only gotten bigger. The most recent film, Mission: Impossible — Fallout, grossed $790 million worldwide in 2018, making it the highest-grossing film of the franchise. Christopher McQuarrie, who directed Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation and Fallout, is set to direct the seventh and eighth movies, as well.

This is not the first time Cruise has considered making a movie in space. Back in 2018, Titanic filmmaker James Cameron told Empire Magazine he asked Cruise about the idea back in 2000, notes Slash Film. The project never came about, and Cameron and Cruise still have not worked together.

"I actually talked to [Cruise] about doing a space film in space, about 15 years ago," Cameron said. "I had a contract with the Russians in 2000 to go to the International Space Station and shoot a high-end 3D documentary there. And I thought, 'S—, man, we should just make a feature.' I said, 'Tom, you and I, we'll get two seats on the Soyuz, but somebody's gotta train us as engineers.' Tom said, 'No problem, I'll train as an engineer.' We had some ideas for the story, but it was still conceptual."

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