Tom Cruise to film aboard International Space Station

LOS ANGELES: Tom Cruise is partnering with NASA to shoot a movie, at least in part, aboard the International Space Station, making it the action film to be shot in space.

The head of NASA confirmed that the space agency is working with actor Tom Cruise to make a movie on the International Space Station.

A NASA spokesperson also confirmed that Cruise will launch into space and stay aboard the station, a multibillion-dollar laboratory that orbits about 250 miles above Earth.

“NASA is excited to work with @TomCruise on a film aboard the @Space_Station,” NASA administrator Jim Bridentsine tweeted on Tuesday. “We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make @NASA’s ambitious plans a reality.”

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. pic.twitter.com/CaPwfXtfUv

— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) May 5, 2020

Films have been shot on board the space station, including a 2002 IMAX documentary that Cruise narrated. Science fiction film ‘Apogee of Fear was also filmed in space by entrepreneur and space tourist Richard Garriott, the son of an astronaut, in 2012. 

It was earlier reported Cruise and Elon Musk’s SpaceX were in the early stages of teaming up with NASA for an action-adventure feature film that would be shot in outer space.

Plot details have not been revealed but it will not be an installment of Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise. It is unclear how or when Cruise will travel to the space station or what additional crew members may join him.

Cruise has insisted on doing his own stunts, including a freefall at 200mph in 2018’s ‘Mission: Impossible — Fallout.’ Cruise’s next film is ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ in which he reprises his role as Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, a test pilot and flight instructor. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the film was moved from its July 12 release date to December 23, 2020.