Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman are getting even closer to taking their ambitious film project into outer space. It has been announced that Universal Pictures is in negotiations to land this historic film endeavor that will serve as the first narrative feature shot in space.
The project first garnered attention back in May when it made headlines for recruiting the full cooperation of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and NASA, who will house the production at the International Space Station. This will not be a cheap production by any means with "Variety" reporting that a budget of $200 million is the most optimistic of projections. Cruise is expected to pocket between $30-60 million on the project which will cover his services as a producer and star and also be comprised of significant first-dollar gross participation over a windfall upfront.
Universal Pictures did not comment on their talks as of this writing but a lot of factors are said to be in place before any studio is totally prepared to take this on. The big concern is actually insuring Cruise and the filmmaking team, as no scripted production has ever conceived of shooting action sequences outside of Earth’s orbit. Cruise is the very definition of a movie star and he has been known to defy the odds, gravity, and many other feats in order to entertain the audience. If anyone can do this, it's Tom Cruise but a lot of T's have to be crossed, and a lot of I's need to be dotted in order to make sure a project like this can move forward feasibly. There is also the issue that a script hasn't been completed yet so any studio would be going into this project, in its current form, based solely on the high-concept idea and a little blind faith.
"Variety" is also reporting that streaming platforms weren't even invited to the party in terms of distributing the film. Those involved want a big and splashy theatrical launch for a project like this and Universal Pictures would be perfect for the kind of release that they are looking for. Universal may find that all of this is worth it but it will be an investment for the studio. Even if they go all-in on the project they will have to sit and wait for Tom Cruise to wrap on MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7 which had to stall due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cruise is in the U.K. preparing to resume shooting on the sequel but there's also the issue of when the shooting of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 8 will start since the plan was to shoot the films back to back. There is considerable prep time on this planned outer space excursion and at 58-years-old, Cruise could be well over his 60th birthday by the time everything is ready for this history-making film to go before the cameras.
That being said, I feel like studios have an abundance of faith in Tom Cruise and it's very possible that these talks will turn into a sure thing because even though it's a risky project, it's a historical one as well and just about any studio will want to be a part of that. Do YOU think Universal Pictures will head to space with Cruise?