In 2020, the media published sensational news that Tom Cruise was going into space. The actor began preliminary negotiations with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and NASA about filming a movie aboard the ISS.
Then Donald Trump’s NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine publicly supported the project, writing on Twitter: “NASA is excited to collaborate with Tom Cruise on a film aboard the ISS! We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to realize NASA’s ambitious plans.”
However, five years have passed since then, and there has been no news about the project. Jim Bridenstine is no longer the head of NASA, and his tweets have been deleted.
An insider familiar with the filmmakers recently told Page Six about the ambitious project: “As I understand it, they will need to coordinate with NASA to shoot the film, and apparently Tom Cruise didn’t want to ask Donald Trump for a favor. This required permission from the federal government.” The source added: “Tom didn’t want to ask for political reasons.”
For many years, Cruise has remained largely apolitical, and the actor did not want to cross that line so as not to alienate his fans. Earlier this year, the Washington Post reported that Cruise declined a recent Kennedy Space Center award from Trump, citing a “schedule conflict.”
This may not have been the only reason for the cancellation. Universal Studios was interested in Cruise’s space project. But the logistics of filming proved extremely difficult, as it was unclear whether the 63-year-old Cruise would be able to obtain insurance for filming in space.
There were also rumors that the film had stalled because director Doug Liman, who previously worked with Cruise on Edge of Tomorrow and American Made, failed his medical examination. At the same time, another source reported that the 60-year-old Lyman is in excellent shape. Earlier this year, Lyman hinted that the project might not happen, emphasizing that he wanted to make “space-themed” films rather than just one film set in space.
The 63-year-old Cruise already has a large number of projects lined up for the coming years, which he appears to be prioritizing. These include the third Top Gun, sequels to Days of Thunder and Edge of Tomorrow, as well as Alejandro Iñárritu’s Judy, which will be released in 2026.
According to Page Six
