A long-discussed plan to send Tom Cruise into outer space for his next big-screen spectacle has run aground — and insiders say the holdup has less to do with rockets and more to do with politics.
According to Page Six, back in 2020, Cruise and director Doug Liman were laying groundwork for a first-of-its-kind feature filmed partly in orbit, backed by NASA coordination and possible support from SpaceX.
But five years later, the project appears to have drifted into limbo, and sources say one issue quietly slowed the effort from the start.
According to a person familiar with the team behind the film, the production would have required federal cooperation — and Cruise did not want to personally request assistance from President Donald Trump.
“From what I understand, they would need NASA coordination to do the movie, and supposedly Tom Cruise did not want to ask Donald Trump for a favor,” the insider told Page Six, adding that the actor avoided doing so for “political reasons.”
Cruise, one of Hollywood’s most disciplined press figures, has spent decades staying publicly neutral on politics. The same source said he feared jeopardizing that stance or alienating fans by seeking direct help from the White House. Earlier this year, The Washington Post reported that Cruise declined a 2025 Kennedy Center honor from Trump, citing a scheduling conflict.
For a time, the project looked promising. Then–NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine publicly endorsed the idea in 2020, even tweeting that the film would involve the International Space Station. “NASA is excited to work with @TomCruise on a film aboard the @Space_Station!” he wrote.
But Bridenstine’s tweet has since been deleted, and his tenure — along with his push for commercial ventures in low Earth orbit — ended years ago. Space insiders now say the agency has had no ongoing internal discussions about the movie.
SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, never commented on participating. Its launch approvals go through the FAA, meaning any mission tied to Cruise’s movie would have required additional government green lights.
Meanwhile, Cruise and Liman both shifted to other projects. Liman told Deadline he remained interested in the concept but refused to treat “outer space” as a gimmick. “Our goal is to make something great,” he said. “I want to make a film that people watch in a hundred years.”
Cruise released Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning earlier this year and is now deep into multiple productions slated for 2026.
President Trump, for his part, has commented on Hollywood frequently. At a recent McDonald’s Impact Summit, he joked about Cruise’s height while praising bomber pilots involved in military operations, saying, “They looked like Tom Cruise… but taller.”
He’s also been involved in pushing forward other film projects, including encouraging billionaire Larry Ellison to revive Brett Ratner’s Rush Hour franchise.
For now, the long-awaited Cruise space feature remains stuck on the launchpad — not for lack of sci-fi ambition, but because reaching orbit appears easier than navigating Hollywood’s relationship with the Oval Office.
