Tom Cruise space movie producers sign deal with Axiom to build studio in orbit
PUBLISHED THU, JAN 20 2022
The producers of Tom Cruise’s future space movie on Thursday announced plans to attach a studio to the International Space Station in development by Houston-based company Axiom.
U.K.-based studio Space Entertainment Enterprise, co-founded by producers Elena and Dmitry Lesnevsky, contracted Axiom to build the module. Called SEE-1, the module would be “the world’s rst content and entertainment studios and multipurpose arena in space.”
SEE-1 is scheduled to launch in December 2024. It will attach to Axiom’s first module that the company plans to connect to its space station in September 2024.
“Adding a dedicated entertainment venue to Axiom Station’s commercial capabilities in the form of SEE-1 will expand the station’s utility as a platform for a global user base and highlight the range of opportunities the new space economy offers,” Axiom president and CEO Michael Suffredini said in a statement.
A Space Entertainment Enterprise (SEE) spokesperson said in an email to CNBC that the company is “in production on the upcoming Tom Cruise movie, which will be filmed in space.” Cruise has yet to comment publicly on the space film, but NASA announced in 2020 that the agency is working with the actor on the movie.
Financial details of the studio’s contract with Axiom were not disclosed, and little is known about Cruise’s unnamed project — including how much it will cost.
“The company is currently in discussions with investors and commercial partners on the project with a further fundraising round planned shortly,” Space Entertainment Enterprise said in a press release.
The SEE-1 module is an inflatable module, according to Axiom, which will have a diameter of nearly 20 feet. Using inflatable modules is an increasingly popular approach of private companies developing space stations to build large living areas, due to the advantage of launching in a smaller form factor and then expanding to a greater volume once in space.
Defunct space company Bigelow Aerospace connected its inflatable BEAM module to the International Space Station in 2016, which NASA continues to use for cargo storage on the research laboratory.
Axiom previously won a $140 million NASA contract to attach its first habitable module to the ISS. The company then plans to detach its modules before the ISS retires, to create the free-flying Axiom Station.
James Cameron And Tom Cruise Almost Shot A Film In Space Together
By Ben Travis, Nick De Semlyen|Posted On30 11 2018
Having already shot a documentary seven miles down in the ocean depths in a solo submarine, it seems only natural thatJames Cameron could someday end up blasting off into space to film something among the stars. In fact, it’s something that almost happened over a decade ago C in his latest Empireinterview to celebrateEmpire 30, taking on questions from readers, Cameron claimed he was planning to go to the International Space Station and shoot a movie with none other than Hollywood’s other greatest daredevil,Tom Cruise.
“I actually talked to [Cruise] about doing a space film in space, about 15 years ago,” Cameron toldEmpire. “I had a contract with the Russians in 2000 to go to the International Space Station and shoot a high-end 3D documentary there. And I thought, ‘****, man, we should just make a feature.’ I said, ‘Tom, you and I, we’ll get two seats on the Soyuz, but somebody’s gotta train us as engineers.’ Tom said, ‘No problem, I’ll train as an engineer.’ We had some ideas for the story, but it was still conceptual.”
NASA chief 'all in' for Tom Cruise to film on space station
May 28, 2020 (Mainichi Japan)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- NASA is rolling out the International Space Station's red carpet for Tom Cruise to make a movie in orbit.
The space agency's administrator, Jim Bridenstine, said before Wednesday's planned launch of two NASA astronauts aboard a SpaceX rocket that Elon Musk's company is already getting customers eager to blast off.
Cruise is one of them.
Bridenstine said he'll leaving it to Cruise and SpaceX to provide the mission details.
"I will tell you this: NASA has been in talks with Tom Cruise and, of course, his team, and we will do everything we can to make it a successful mission, including opening up the International Space Station," he told The Associated Press.
Asked about Cruise filming on the space station, Musk told "CBS This Morning," "Actually, I think that remains to be seen. We are supportive and I think NASA is supportive of anything that captures the imagination of the public."
Bridenstine said the whole reason NASA created "this commercial marketplace" is so SpaceX, Boeing and other private companies can attract customers besides the U.S. government. That will drive down costs to American taxpayers, he said, and increase access to space for all types of people -- celebrities included.
"I don't admit this very often ... but I was inspired to become a Navy pilot because when I was in elementary school, I watched the movie 'Top Gun,'" the 44-year-old Bridenstine said.
Cruise starred as Navy pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in the 1986 film. A sequel is due out later this year.
"The question is, 'Can Tom Cruise make a new movie that inspires the next generation Elon Musk.' And if he can do that, then we're all for it. NASA is all in," Bridenstine said.
A message to Cruise's representative was not immediately returned.
In May 2020, former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced the agency will collaborate with Hollywood action movie actor Tom Cruise to film a movie at the International Space Station (ISS). “NASA is excited to work with Tom Cruise 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,” said Bridenstine. C“Should be a lot of fun!” the founder of SpaceX Elon Musk said in response to the announcement. Cruise is expected to launch to ISS atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the NASA Kennedy Space Center aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft, which is capable of docking to the ISS autonomously. A specific launch date has not been officially announced yet.
The actor’s spaceflight is managed by Axiom Space, a company from Houston, Texas, that offers spaceflight management services for civilians to visit the ISS. The company is also a space infrastructure manufacturer; it has ambitious plans to build its own space station in low Earth orbit. Earlier this year, on January 20, Axiom announced it will build an ‘inflatable media venue module’ that will be attached to the Space Station to be used by Cruise upon arrival. It is set to be “the world’s rst content and entertainment studios and multipurpose arena in space.” The module is scheduled to be installed at the Space Station in 2024 [date is subject to change].
Tom Cruise is known for doing his own stunts in action movies. He could become “the first civilian to do a spacewalk” outside of the Space Station, the head of Universal Pictures Donna Langley told BBC in an interview this week. The yet-to-be-titled action movie has a budget of around $200 million. Cruise will go on a SpaceX adventure with action film director Doug Liman, who will be in charge of recording movie scenes in zero gravity. “Tom Cruise is taking us to space. He’s taking the world to space. That’s the plan,” said Langley. "We have a great project in development with Tom, that does contemplate him doing just that. Taking a rocket up to the space station and shooting and hopefully being the first civilian to do a spacewalk outside of the space station," said Langley. They also shared that most of the movie “takes place on Earth, and then the character needs to go up to space to save the day.”
Production company behind Tom Cruise space movie building space studio with Axiom Space
By Will Robinson-Smith Brevard County
PUBLISHED 9:00 PM ET Jan. 20, 2022
The extreme stunts performed by actor Tom Cruise will soon be able to take a giant leap forward. The U.K.-based production company behind the actor’s upcoming untitled space movie announced they are creating a studio in space.
Space Entertainment Enterprise (SEE) describe the module as “the world’s first content and entertainment studios and multi-purpose arena in space.”
What You Need To Know
Space Entertainment Enterprise is looking to create an entertainment and creative space in low Earth orbit
The SEE-1 module is targeting a late 2024 launch date
Axiom Space will manufacture the new module as part of its Axiom Station
“Axiom Station, the world’s first commercial space station, is designed as the foundational infrastructure enabling a diverse economy in orbit,” Michael Suredini, President/CEO of Axiom Space, said in a statement. “Adding a dedicated entertainment venue to Axiom Station’s commercial capabilities in the form of SEE-1 will expand the station’s utility as a platform for a global user base and highlight the range of opportunities the new space economy offers.”
The project is being developed through a partnership between Axiom Space and SEE, though the value of that contract was not disclosed in Thursday’s announcement. The module is set to launch in late 2024, shortly after Axiom launches its first module to the ISS.
Back in May 2020, then NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced that NASA was working with Tom Cruise to make that film a reality. That announcement came a few weeks before SpaceX successfully launched the first astronauts of the Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station.
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
SpaceX hasn’t confirmed its involvement with the project, but founder Elon Musk did reply to Bridenstine’s 2020 tweet and said, “Should be a lot of fun!”
Sports and entertainment in space
Elena and Dmitry Lesnevsky were confirmed by SEE as two of the producers on the untitled Cruise project, and work as the co-founders and co-CEOs of SEE. They are also working with Mark Taffet, the 25-year HBO veteran who was the senior vice president of sports and pay-per-view.
The former vice president of technology at Viacom, Remi Abayomi, serves as the CTO of SEE.
“SEE-1 is an incredible opportunity for humanity to move into a different realm and start an exciting new chapter in space,” said Dmitry and Elena Lesnevsky, in a statement. “It will provide a unique, and accessible home for boundless entertainment possibilities in a venue packed with innovative infrastructure which will unleash a new world of creativity.
"With worldwide leader Axiom Space building this cutting-edge, revolutionary facility, SEE-1 will provide not only the first, but also the supreme quality space structure enabling the expansion of the two trillion-dollar global entertainment industry into low-Earth orbit.”
In a statement on Thursday, Axiom said that SEE-1 will “compromise one-fifth of Axiom Station’s initial configuration when it is completed and ready to separate from the ISS.” That separation is expected in 2028.
Axiom Space was awarded a $140 million contract in 2020 to develop a destination module that is set to launch in 2024.
Speaking with Collider about his new movie The Instigators, starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, Liman confirmed that he and Cruise are both still attached to the untitled action movie set in space. "It's still a dream and a plan," he said. The project was first announced in 2020, with Universal reportedly set to give the film a $200 million budget. Cruise is set to earn upwards of $60 million for his role as both producer and star.
