Tom Cruise’s highly anticipated space film project appears to be facing delays due to the actor’s desire to remain neutral in American politics, according to an insider.
Since 2020, the Mission Impossible star has been keen to launch the project in collaboration with Doug Liman, who directed Edge of Tomorrow, to create the first film shot in space.
However, the current political situation on Earth has reportedly caused the project to be put on hold, as a source informed Page Six.
Cruise, at 63, has meticulously avoided political entanglements throughout his career to prevent alienating his audience. Nonetheless, executing a film in space would necessitate collaboration with SpaceX and NASA.
This collaboration would require Cruise to seek approval from President Trump to proceed with the film.
An insider revealed to the publication: “From what I understand, they would need NASA coordination to do the movie, and supposedly Tom Cruise did not want to ask Donald Trump for a favor.
“You’d need permission from the federal government.”
The project initially received tentative support from both NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in 2020 during Joe Biden’s presidency, giving fans hope for the first space-based blockbuster featuring Cruise.
Jim Bridenstein, leading NASA at that time, expressed enthusiasm for the project, which was considered for filming on the International Space Station.
In a since-deleted X post, he noted: “We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make NASA’s ambitious plans a reality.”
Elon Musk, who later allied with Trump, had expressed that the project ‘should be a lot of fun,’ showing his support.
Nevertheless, the insider mentioned that given the current situation, ‘Tom didn’t want to ask for political reasons’.
This aligns with Cruise’s previous actions, as he reportedly declined an honor from the president earlier this year at the Kennedy Center, citing ‘scheduling conflicts.’
The unprecedented shoot would have involved sending Cruise into orbit, approximately 250 miles above Earth.
Director Liman had expressed excitement about the film just three months ago, telling Deadline: “I’m more excited about going to space, but our goal is to make something great.”
Liman, known for working on The Bourne Identity, explained that the project aimed to explore new frontiers in filmmaking.
He added: “I want to make a film that people watch in a hundred years when maybe there’s hundreds of movies shot in outer space and there’s nothing special about it being in outer space.”