Ground control to Major Tom... Cruise!
Tom Cruise is apparently in talks to become the first civilian in history to perform a spacewalk - and all for an untitled Universal movie.
The idea was initially teased in 2020, when NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted about a collaboration between the space agency, Elon Musk's SpaceX, and the Mission: Impossible actor, Deadline reported at the time.
Now, it seems, more exciting details have been given. In a recent BBC interview, Universal Studio's chairwoman Dame Donna Langley explained: "We have a great project in development with Tom that does contemplate him taking a rocket to the Space Station."
"Hopefully he will become the first civilian to do a spacewalk outside of the International Space Station. He will play a down-on-his-luck guy who finds himself in the position of being the only person who could save Earth," Langley added.
Doug Liman, who directed Bourne Identity, is set to direct the highly anticipated flick. He stated that he was confident in his abilities, given that he had worked on Locked Down in London during the pandemic.
Liman stated, per Movieweb: "It connects to 'Locked Down' because the same producer who a year ago came to me and said how would you like to try to shoot a movie in outer space? That's PJ van Sandwijk, and he's the same person who said to Steve Knight and myself on July 1, what about you guys writing a movie for us to shoot in September?"
"But here's the thing. When a producer proposes something crazy to you, like, let's try to shoot a movie in outer space, and NASA and SpaceX sign on, and Tom Cruise signs on… you're just a little bit more receptive when that same producer says I got another crazy idea, and that became Locked Down," he added.
Sadly, Cruise may have already been beaten to become the first actor to film in space. In 2021, the Russian space agency Roscosmos announced that they wished to create the first film in space, a space drama titled The Challenge.
Before heading up to space, however, Roscosmos announced that the cast and crew would: "Among other things, they will have to take centrifuge tests, vibration stand tests, perform introductory and training flights on a zero-gravity plane, undergo parachute training," per NBC News.
Set to be released in 2023, the movie was partially filmed on the International Space Station - making it the first feature-length fiction movie to be filmed in space.
Konstantin Ernst, head of Russia's state-controlled Channel One - who is working with Roscosmos on the flick - stated that the plot was about: "How a person in no way connected with space exploration, due to various reasons and personal debt, ends up a month later in orbit."
However, it appears NASA wants to go one step further than Roscosmos, given that the upcoming space movie will apparently feature footage of Cruise actually walking outside of the station.
Whatever the outcome, it'll definitely be a small step for man and a giant leap for mankind!