The world recently learned that Tom Cruise was indeed going to win his unofficial space race with the Fast and Furious franchise to make the first narrative feature actually filmed in outer space, or as close as he can realistically get to that label, while teaming up with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Soon enough, NASA confirmed that they’re working alongside Cruise and Musk to help make it happen with filming set to go down on the International Space Station. Of course, the film has no projected shooting date, given that we’re still in the middle of the pandemic, and Cruise is still sandwiched within lingering Mission: Impossible franchise productions.
However, the outer-space project does officially have a director, who’s currently writing the script, and the fellow’s previously worked with the lead actor. Given that clue, one might guess that Steven Spielberg is involved (he helmed War of the Worlds with Cruise and is known to get space-y with his subject matter), but nope, it’s not Spielberg. The correct answer would be Doug Liman, who directed Cruise in American Made (with Cruise as a CIA-recruited pilot wrapped up in the War on Drugs). The pair also worked together in Edge of Tomorrow, with Cruise fighting aliens while trapped in a time loop. In other words, the Top Gun: Maverick star has found the right guy for the job. Here’s another nugget from Hollywood Reporter:
Plot details are being kept secret, but it is known that [Doug] Liman is writing the script … Liman and Cruise, who will also both produce, have been cooking up the onscreen adventure for some time.
The piece also reconfirms that Musk and NASA are onboard. This will be another leg of their adventure after the SpaceX Demo-2 mission — still scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, pending weather — which will place NASA astronauts aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. It should be a historic mission, as will be the case for the next Cruise-Liman project. Yep, Dominic Toretto is definitely getting Cruise’d.
(Via Hollywood Reporter)