NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced earlier this month that 3x Academy Award-nominee Tom Cruise had received exclusive permission to develop a new action/adventure film with NASA and SpaceX, that would be set aboard the International Space Station and would become the first narrative film to be shot entirely in outer space.
Neither a writer nor a director is currently attached, but it's hard not to wonder whether the new project could once again reteam Cruise with frequent collaborator and friend Chris McQuarrie, who has worked with him as writer and director on a number of high profile projects, including Valkyrie, Jack Reacher, Edge of Tomorrow, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, The Mummy, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, and Top Gun: Maverick.
During a recent appearance on the Light The Fuse podcast, Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 director Chris McQuarrie shared some very interesting new information about the upcoming two-part sequels (More of which you can read about HERE, HERE, and HERE) and also dropped a small nugget about what will easily be the most ambitious film in cinematic history.
When pressed on possibly being involved with Cruise's upcoming trek to outer space, he vaguely replied, "Am I involved in that movie? There's absolutely nothing I can tell you about that movie," before admitting that it was an inevitable development considering Cruise's natural tendency to push the envelope further than any actor has before.
While Cruise may be going to space in the not-so-distant future, McQuarrie assures that the Mission: Impossible franchise will be staying on the ground and for good reason. "What is happening in 7 and 8 is so insane that we don't need to go to space."
Before wrapping up, McQuarrie also hinted at another film independent of the Mission: Impossible franchise that he's currently in the very early stages of developing with Cruise, although unlike Mission, he'd like to have the screenplay actually finished before they get to work on this one. "Tom and I have another project for down the road that we've been planning with this fantasy of having a movie where the screenplay is actually finished before we start making the movie."