Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning may be the end of Tom Cruise’s tenure in this beloved action franchise, but it’s certainly not the end of the actor’s progressive work within the genre. Cruise is currently attached to a project by filmmaker Doug Liman, which is said to be the first Hollywood feature to be filmed in space. Rumors about the project have been circulating for a long time, but Universal has recently shared an official update that Liman’s movie will be going ahead.
Exactly to what extent Cruise’s upcoming space movie will be filmed in space is still being discussed, but there has reportedly been discussion about taking the crew onto the International Space Station for some on-location filming. This is all hugely exciting news for the future of blockbuster filmmaking, but Cruise’s long-time collaborator Christopher McQuarrie isn’t entirely convinced that it will be as straightforward as Cruise suggests.
Audiences Will Expect Tom Cruise’s Space Movie To Have Some Practical Stunts
The Actor Has Made A Name For Himself Thanks To His Stunt Work
Naturally, audiences will expect a certain amount of practical stunts from Cruise’s upcoming space movie, given how strongly the actor has revolved his public image around stunt work over the past few years. The stunts in Mission: Impossible were the biggest talking point of the later sequels, and Cruise developed quite a reputation for his willingness to consistently put his life on the line for entertainment value. There’s no reason this should be any different with his upcoming space movie.
Cruise and Liman have worked together twice in the past, on Edge of Tomorrow and American Made — both of which incorporated plenty of practical stunts into the story. Liman is clearly an advocate of Cruise’s ongoing promotion of stunt work in Hollywood, so it would be surprising if he conceded to a more VFX-led approach in his next movie. However, actually filming these stunts in space will be exceptionally difficult for one major reason.
Christopher McQuarrie Just Explained The Stunt Problem Cruise’s Space Movie Will Run Into
There’s A Reason McQuarrie Never Tried To Film In Space
Speaking with Collider, four-time Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie raised concerns about filming extended sequences in space due to the zero-gravity conditions on the ISS. When asked why he never attempted to take it to space, McQuarrie claimed that “shooting in Zero-G would be a complete rethink of how to make Mission: Impossible, [because] when you think about every single memorable stunt in a Mission: Impossible film, gravity is a huge factor.”
From scaling the Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol to dismounting a motorcycle mid-air in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning, the stunt teams will have needed to calculate the exact forces of gravity at every moment to ensure nothing goes wrong.
Unsurprisingly, the director is absolutely right. None of the most iconic stunts from the Mission: Impossible franchise would have been possible without the scientific constants of gravity ensuring that Cruise and his stunt team were always safe. From scaling the Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol to dismounting a motorcycle mid-air in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning, the stunt teams will have needed to calculate the exact forces of gravity at every moment to ensure nothing goes wrong. Without this, they would have left too much up to chance.
How Tom Cruise’s Space Movie Can Overcome The No Gravity Problem
There’s A Compromise That Liman And Cruise Must Make
Ultimately, the safest way for Cruise and Liman to overcome this problem would be by using a seamless combination of both VFX and practical effects to make their stunt work come alive. The stunts themselves could be filmed on Earth, using high-speed planes or even skydiving to create the illusion of zero-gravity, before using visual effects to clean the footage up and make it seem more authentic.
Cruise also has an underwater horror movie in development that might come across the same issues; filming underwater is notoriously difficult, even though it’s been done several times in the Mission: Impossible movies. Although Cruise decided to tackle these obstacles, there’s no doubt that both projects will end up being major talking points within the film community for their boundary-pushing effects and stunt coordination.
Source: Collider
