Russia in race vs Hollywood and Tom Cruise to film first movie in outer space
The film industry is finally reaching for the stars, literally.
After last year's announcement that Tom Cruise would be filming a movie in outer space, a Russian film production company also expressed their intention to begin their space-based production in early October 2021.
One of Russia’s celebrated actresses, Yulia Peresild, will be flying to the International Space Station (ISS) this October 5 with film director Klim Shipenko and there's a chance they'll beat the Americans in filming the first movie in outer space.
The Call, the film’s working title, is about a doctor dispatched urgently to the ISS to save a cosmonaut. The project was announced in September last year, four months after Cruise announced theirs.
In preparation for the big mission, Peresild has been undergoing intense training since May at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City just outside Moscow. She was also taught how to survive in hostile environments so that she’s prepared to plummet back to Earth in a Soyuz capsule on October 17.
“We will have to film in space what it is not possible to shoot on Earth,” she said in an interview with AFP.
One of the big names found in the credit list is Konstantin Ernst, the CEO of Channel One Russia who is known for his involvement in Russia’s most important moments in recent political history, such as military parades, inaugurations, and the opening ceremony of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi.
Another big name is included, Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency is featured in the credits.
Meanwhile, Cruise, known for doing his own death-defying stunts, is set to fly to space on a yet-to-be-determined date in October this year for his upcoming unnamed new film with director Doug Liman sometime in October.
Former NASA Administrator, Jim Bredistine, tweeted last year, unable to hide his excitement for the upcoming project.
NASA is excited to work with @TomCruise on a film aboard the @Space_Station! We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make @NASA’s ambitious plans a reality. pic.twitter.com/CaPwfXtfUv
— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) May 5, 2020
Cruise, who is turning 59 tomorrow, with the help of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, will travel to the ISS in the Axiom Space Crew Dragon capsule, along with Liman who is also the writer of the film.
In a separate tweet by Space Shuttle Almanac, they shared a photo of upcoming space launch projects by different countries. Included in the October 2021 takeoff is the “SpaceX Crew Dragon,” accompanied by an image of a spaceship and the following names: SpaceX Pilot Lopez Alegria, Tourist 1 Tom Cruise and Tourist 2 Doug Liman.
With the arrival of the @MBRSpaceCentre Astronauts @astro_hazzaa and @Astro_Alneyadi at @NASA_Johnson this week, can we assume they are the two Emirati crew members who will make the 6 mth stay on the #ISS in Oct 2022? pic.twitter.com/b2Sdr06hUc
— Space Shuttle Almanac (@ShuttleAlmanac) September 21, 2020
In an exclusive report released by Deadline, an estimated $200 million has been pledged by Universal Studios for the production.
