Credit: Universal

When you do your own stunts, sooner or later, you’ll end up in space.

Filming on location has been a thing for about as long as the movie industry has existed. You can cobble together a jungle set with some palm trees and a fog machine, but nothing will ever look better than the genuine article. However, despite being a common setting for big blockbuster films, there’s one location film has almost never ventured to: outer space. Of course, we can’t breathe in space, among a litany of other reasons why that’s nearly impossible, but if there’s a guy who’s not especially concerned with impossible things, it’s Tom Cruise.

Cruise announced yesterday that he’s interested in filming his next big picture in zero gravity aboard the International Space Station. Cruise himself would, of course, visit the ISS personally, as he is no stranger to doing his own stunts, though hanging from a helicopter and going to space are two very different beasts. However, Cruise does posses a commercial piloting license, obtained during his role as Maverick in 1986’s Top Gun, which is one of the listed requirements for astronaut candidacy. If Cruise can make this happen, he will be the very first Hollywood star to break the Earth’s gravitational pull.

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

NASA has confirmed their involvement with the project, with Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeting his support, as well as his interest in inspiring a new generation of engineers. Elon Musk and SpaceX are also rumored to be involved with the project somehow, but neither Musk himself nor SpaceX have confirmed this. Musk did mention on his Twitter, however, that the idea intrigued him.