Tom Cruise, Elon Musk, and NASA are reportedly working on the first narrative feature film to be shot in outer space. Yes, your foggy, quarantine-addled brain absorbed that information correctly: Tom Cruise, as in the movie star; Elon Musk, as in the bizarro Tesla billionaire and CEO of SpaceX; NASA, as in the space agency. They’re joining forces. To make a movie. In outer space.
Deadline reported this head-scratcher Monday, noting the movie will be an action adventure, in true Cruise fashion, and will be the first narrative feature of its kind. And no, it won’t be a Mission: Impossible film, nor is it currently attached to any studio. Reps for Cruise have not yet responded to Vanity Fair’s request for comment.
As the outlet noted, space is probably the next great challenge for Cruise, a star so devoted to doing his own stunts that he once fired an insurance team so he could run around the side of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. One wonders how, exactly, Cruise will prepare for this movie: Will he…literally go…up into outer space? Will he have to become an actual astronaut in order to play this new role? Unclear. Maybe Lance Bass, who has sadly never made it into orbit, can give him some tips.
Musk, a man who is simply addicted to the concept of living on Mars, is probably a suitable business partner for such a venture thanks to SpaceX, his rocket and spacecraft-manufacturing company. If Musk, who recently welcomed a new baby boy with partner Grimes, had his way, half of humanity would probably be living on the moon right now, with the other half hitting a vicious game of rock-paper-scissors to see who gets dibs on Mars. But a movie made within the confines of a space shuttle is a nice alternative to all that.
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