An update has finally been given about the movie that was set to see Tom Cruise overcome his most powerful foe yet: gravity. In 2020, it was reported that Cruise would once again work with past collaborator Doug Liman on a new thriller that would quite literally take place in space.

Liman has worked with Cruise on some of the actor’s best-loved projects, namely 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow, and also directed Swingers (1996) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Most recently, he helmed Asteroid, an XR (meaning Extended Reality) short film that pairs traditional filmmaking techniques with VR and AI.

Now, in conversation with ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, Liman has revealed that there are no concrete plans for his ambitious partnership with Cruise to take off. Check out his comments below:

Doug Liman: I’m more excited about going to space, not less … but our goal is to make something great. A lot of people are trying to do gimmicky things like, ‘Oh, it’s in space.’ I’m not interested in doing something that’s a just promotional gimmick.

I want to make a film that people watch in a hundred years when maybe there’s hundreds of movies sH๏τ in outer space and there’s nothing special about it being in outer space. That’s the goal of everything I do.

With Swingers, it’s very meaningful to me that lots of people who watch it weren’t even born when it premiered here.

If I ever shoot a movie in outer space, the question will be what could I do that you couldn’t do on Earth that makes for a great piece of entertainment, that’s better than if you didn’t do it it space.

Again, its also about technology and storytelling… you can run a line from Swingers all the way through to this potential film in outer space.

What This Means For Doug Liman & Tom Cruise’s Space Movie

Cruise’s space movie isn’t his only troubled film with Doug Liman, but it is his most ambitious. While it’s laudable that Liman wants to make sure the film has a story that outlasts the novelty of the endeavor, the lack of progress on the concept is disappointing.

Cruise and Liman even have (had?) partners for the film, as both NASA and SpaceX Agreed to help make the shoot happen once everything else was in place. This suggests that there was true momentum behind the project, although a potential budget was never released.

Our Take On The Tom Cruise Space Thriller News

Can’t we have nice things? Mission: Impossible could very well be over, Top Gun 3 is not arriving any time soon, and the supposedly in-development sequel to Edge of Tomorrow is realistically a longsH๏τ. American cinema needs this.

Tom Cruise literally helped revive American cinema after the COVID-19 pandemic and, for all the Starlink satellites and William Shatners being sent to space in recent years, the action star’s ascent to the stars has the chance to boost the box office and interest in space exploration even more.

Cruise is the Buster Keaton of the modern era, constantly putting his life on the line to bring thrilling cinematic experiences to audiences. He’s also 63 years old, and nearing an age at which he may not be able to hang from the wing of a spinning biplane for take after take. Send him to space while you can.