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Hollywood legend Tom Cruise is officially heading to outer space in 2021 for a new film. The Mission: Impossible star, 58, is set to head into outer space with Elon Musk's SpaceX in October next year in his most daring stunt yet. Cruise is working on the new film with Musk and NASA, which will be helmed by Edge Of Tomorrow director Doug Liman. Space Shuttle Almanac confirmed via Twitter on Saturday that the Axiom Space Station will head off on a tourist mission piloted by Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, with both Cruise and Liman on board.
The tweet reads: "So its confirmed that @CommanderMLA is flying the @Axiom_Space@SpaceX#CrewDragon tourist mission with Director @DougLiman & Tom Cruise. One seat still to be filled. They are to launch in October, 2021."
Both Cruise and Liman both have experience as pilots but space travel will be whole new territory for them. NASA confirmed their involvement with the film earlier this year when Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, tweeted: "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."
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Liman is said to be working on the script to the film, which will have a budget of Sh21.6billion. The new movie was reportedly pitched to Universal Studios in "an exuberant Zoom call with Tom Cruise, director Doug Liman, Christopher McQuarrie and PJ van Sandwijk", according to Deadline. Mission: Impossible: Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie is said to be a story supervisor and producer on the film, with Cruise also acting as a producer.
Fans of Tom are currently due to see him reprise his iconic role as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick, which is due for release on July 2, 2021. The long-awaited sequel was planned to be released this year but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Cruise will also make a comeback as action hero Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible 7, which will see McQuarrie return as the director of his third film in the franchise.
Also returning for the new outing are actors Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, and Henry Czerny. Joining the cast are Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, and Esai Morales as the film's villain. Filming on the seventh and eighth instalments in the franchise will occur back-to-back after being delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but filming has now resumed with M:I 7 due for release in cinemas on November 19, 2021.
ALSO READ: Top actress feels better about herself without Tom Cruise
Elsewhere, Tom's rarely seen daughter with ex-wife Nicole Kidman, Isabella 'Bella' Kidman Cruise has displayed a bold new hairdo on Instagram.
