SpaceX will launch Tom Cruise to shoot a Movie In Space

[TMC Staff]

Musk is no stranger to the movie industry and there’s really no better way to promote SpaceX than to have it featured in a film. When Elon Musk isn’t talking about building electric cars, going into space and to other planets, or just having an apparent meltdown on Twitter, he’s apparently working towards appearing in...
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[e-FTW]

I cannot wait for that launch where he hangs off the side of the booster. Then climbs up and at stage sep he jumps the gap and grabs onto the mVAC engine bell... while holding his breath. Then fights off a bad guy that came out of the Dragon capsule, drops him to burn on re-entry, climbs up stage 2 and pops in to Dragon just as it is delivered to orbit. Straps in with a wink to the other occupants.

 

[ICUDoc]

I cannot wait for that launch where he hangs off the side of the booster. Then climbs up and at stage sep he jumps the gap and grabs onto the mVAC engine bell... while holding his breath. Then fights off a bad guy that came out of the Dragon capsule, drops him to burn on re-entry, climbs up stage 2 and pops in to Dragon just as it is delivered to orbit. Straps in with a wink to the other occupants.

And there's the whole screenplay, right there!
Love it!
Actually very excited to see 1. Crew Dragon and 2. Starship flights coming up.
what a great time to be alive!

 

[Photo_Frank]

OK, guys, some of us have been quarantined way too long!

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Well, I won't be watching that webcast.

I care little for movies anyway, and I'm really not interested in a Tom Cruise vehicle.

 

[Nikxice]

Well, I won't be watching that webcast.

I care little for movies anyway, and I'm really not interested in a Tom Cruise vehicle.

Great news if SpaceX can profit off a deal like this. I get the whole PR buzz and would certainly watch the movie. However these days realistic Space flicks can be done cheaper on mother earth. Even after 25 years the Apollo 13 Space scenes still look fantastic.
As I recall when Cruise was filming Top Gun he took a spin in a Tomcat and couldn't hold down lunch. Good luck up there.

 

[MXLRplus]

I thought most Scientologists were already way out in space? I guess that would save on transportation costs, but craft services would be very expensive unless all they served was Tang™ and Space Food Sticks™

EDIT - For those who aren't Boomers: Space Food Sticks went to the moon too

 

[ecarfan]

I am skeptical this is going to happen. Sure Tom Cruise and film investors could afford to pay for a Crew Dragon ride to the station and stay there for a few weeks but that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars in total (SpaceX vehicle and launch costs and NASA charges for space station tourism). Give how easy it is with CGI to recreate the ISS and the appearance of microgravity why spend hundreds of millions of dollars to shoot one actor inside the ISS with no professional film crew?

 

[adiggs]

I am skeptical this is going to happen. Sure Tom Cruise and film investors could afford to pay for a Crew Dragon ride to the station and stay there for a few weeks but that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars in total (SpaceX vehicle and launch costs and NASA charges for space station tourism). Give how easy it is with CGI to recreate the ISS and the appearance of microgravity why spend hundreds of millions of dollars to shoot one actor inside the ISS with no professional film crew?

I'm skeptical as well, but not because of how easy special effects are. If you've got the money, the realism and advertising / marketing that would come from actual scenes from space rather than CGI - might be priceless. And certainly a place in history, even if the movie is a flop at the box office.

 

[Grendal]

It looks like it will happen on the ISS. Maybe NASA will allow for a discount by launching Tom along with an ISS crew. It would be a lot more expensive if the production crew sends a team on a solo Crew Dragon. Then they have to pay for the whole thing. If Bridenstine allows Tom to tag along with one of their crews it would be a huge savings.

"NASA is excited to work with Tom Cruise on a film aboard the ISS! We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make NASA’s ambitious plans a reality."
Jim Bridenstine on Twitter

 

[ecarfan]

Okay, but...is Cruise actually going to space? Or will the film simply place his character on the ISS as part of the story but he will be filmed on Earth.

Still skeptical this will actually happen...

 

[adiggs]

It looks like it will happen on the ISS. Maybe NASA will allow for a discount by launching Tom along with an ISS crew. It would be a lot more expensive if the production crew sends a team on a solo Crew Dragon. Then they have to pay for the whole thing. If Bridenstine allows Tom to tag along with one of their crews it would be a huge savings.

"NASA is excited to work with Tom Cruise on a film aboard the ISS! We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make NASA’s ambitious plans a reality."
Jim Bridenstine on Twitter

I bet they get the ISS crew to be the film crew, rather than bringing along a film crew with Cruise. Just bring the actor(s) needed for the space portion of the movie, and recruit the other people there to hold a camera

I'm sure the astronaut skill set overlaps with the Director / Camera operator skill set.


Also still skeptical this will happen anytime soon. But also thinking that this is inevitable, as long as humanity continues making progress back into space. And I think THAT is inevitable as long as Elon is alive.

 

[ecarfan]

I bet they get the ISS crew to be the film crew

Having read the books by Chris Hatfield and Scott Kelly, they make clear that almost every waking minute of every day on station is scheduled with an unending series of tasks, and a lot of time is taken up with basic maintenance and repair just to ensure they don’t die.

I find it hard to imagine that NASA would be willing to devote many astronaut/days of time to filming a rich actor float around in microgravity when the exact same images could be created on Earth for a fraction of the cost.

 

[ecarfan]

On the other hand, I did find this Want to Buy a Ticket to the Space Station? NASA Says Soon You Can

NASA is open to space tourists staying at the ISS for only $35,000 a day. Earth-to-ISS roundtrip fare not included of course.

 

[Grendal]

Having read the books by Chris Hatfield and Scott Kelly, they make clear that almost every waking minute of every day on station is scheduled with an unending series of tasks, and a lot of time is taken up with basic maintenance and repair just to ensure they don’t die.

I find it hard to imagine that NASA would be willing to devote many astronaut/days of time to filming a rich actor float around in microgravity when the exact same images could be created on Earth for a fraction of the cost.

Bridenstine and the current administration is focused on publicity. So while having a famous actor hanging around and interfering in ISS activity is a big negative, I expect that the big publicity boost gained from the publicity would outweigh that negative with Bridenstine and the administration. As far as SpaceX is concerned it is only a win for the publicity.

 

[wallet.dat]

In the Tom Cruise version of this space movie, the aliens kill themselves.

 

[e-FTW]

Today, Jim Bridenstine explained how the idea was to do for today’s youth what Top Gun did for him: inspire them!
(Top Gun convinced him to become a Navy pilot)

 

[Cosmacelf]

I am skeptical this is going to happen. Sure Tom Cruise and film investors could afford to pay for a Crew Dragon ride to the station and stay there for a few weeks but that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars in total (SpaceX vehicle and launch costs and NASA charges for space station tourism). Give how easy it is with CGI to recreate the ISS and the appearance of microgravity why spend hundreds of millions of dollars to shoot one actor inside the ISS with no professional film crew?

The point isn’t to do something that could be done via CGI. It is a marketing hook. THE FIRST feature movie to be shot in space. The movie could suck and everyone will go see it anyways.

 

[JohnnyEnglish]

The point isn’t to do something that could be done via CGI. It is a marketing hook. THE FIRST feature movie to be shot in space. The movie could suck and everyone will go see it anyways.

...and Tom Cruise gets a trip to the ISS paid for by the film's budget

 

[Cosmacelf]

...and Tom Cruise gets a trip to the ISS paid for by the film's budget

Well, yes. It's good to be King.