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One of Tom Cruise’s most ambitious projects — a movie that would be literally shot in outer space — is no longer looking like it’s going to come to fruition, as reports indicate that the Hollywood mega-star doesn’t feel like dealing with President Trump and his government in order to make the movie.
The space-set project — which was announced back in 2020 and would be helmed by Tom Cruise’s Edge of Tomorrow filmmaker Doug Liman — has stalled and is unlikely to move forward at this time.
The reason, according to reports, is because in order to film in space, Cruise and his production would need permission from the federal government, and Cruise does not feel like courting the President’s favor.
Movie that Tom Cruise planned to film in actual outer space unlikely to move forward as he does not want to have to ask President Donald Trump for permission
“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,” an alleged inside source told Page Six. “Tom didn’t want to ask for political reasons.”
In addition to the outer space movie, Cruise has also been developing an ambitious deep sea project called Deeper, which also has Doug Liman attached to direct. That project also seems to be on hold, however, as Cruise and co. — Ana de Armas has been rumored as a co-star — have been having difficulty finding a studio willing to foot the bill, which is reportedly in the neighborhood of $275 million.
The Hollywood legend will next be seen starring in a still-untitled project from Birdman and The Revenant director Alejandro Iñárritu, which will be released in the Fall of 2026. Cruise will star in the film as “the most powerful man in the world [who] embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything.”
In addition to Cruise, Jesse Plemons, Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed, Sophie Wilde, Emma D’Arcy, Robert John Burke, Burn Gorman, Michael Stuhlbarg, and John Goodman are also set to star in the film, which is dated to release on October 2, 2026.