‘Top Gun’ star Tom Cruise set to become the first actor to film a movie in outer space
Tom Cruise is swapping out sleek jet aircraft for high-powered rockets. The Top Gun: Maverick star is supposedly in the process of pitching a new movie which will see him ride a rocket straight to the International Space Station (ISS). Always the overachiever, this one.
According to the BBC, the actor has teamed up with American film director Doug Liman for the upcoming project. In the past, Liman has headed a number of incredibly popular action blockbusters such as Mr & Mrs Smith, Edge of Tomorrow and The Bourne Identity franchise.
Speaking about the exciting project with the BBC, Donna Langley, Chairwoman of Universal Film Entertainment Group, stated: “Tom Cruise is taking us to space—he’s taking the world to space. That’s the plan, we have a great project in development with Tom that does contemplate him doing just that.”
Langley also expressed her wishes to help Cruise be “the first civilian to do a space walk outside of the space station.”
While many still revere Cruise for his stunt abilities and extensive repertoire, a number of millennials and gen Zers will know the actor more for his links to the controversial Church of Scientology than his killer stuntman skills.
For example, Leah Remini—former member and now resident Church of Scientology ass whooper—has been highly critical of the Hollywood star’s connection to the organisation, and indeed his historic promotion of the problematic religion.
In June 2022, following the release of Top Gun: Maverick, Remini retweeted a post from fellow former Scientologist, Claire Headly. Within the tweet, Headly accused Cruise of committing “crimes against humanity,” both in relation to his close association with the Church and in regards to his previous relationship with ex-wife Katie Holmes—who reportedly tried to flee the turbulent marriage with their daughter Suri multiple times before the couple officially divorced in 2012.
Remini captioned her response, “Tom Cruise knows exactly what goes on in Scientology. Don’t let the movie star charm fool you.”
There have been no official announcements regarding the release of Cruise’s celestial project, however, with a fighter jet licence, a helicopter licence and a real estate licence under his belt, it won’t be long before the actor hunts down his space rocket qualifications.
