Russian filmmakers have beaten Tom Cruise to his once-in-a-lifetime goal of being part of the first film ever to take place in space. As the process of filmmaking continues to evolve, everything from cameras to visual effects to editing software have allowed for major changes in what can be done. The past triumphs that filmmakers like Steven Spielberg or James Cameron have achieved are constantly being challenged with varying degrees of success.
Cinema has now reached the point in which those with enough money and clout can take on projects that had previously seemed impossible. Though still over a year away as of this writing, Cameron’s Avatar 2 is part of a series of Avatar sequels that will undoubtedly raise the filmmaking bar higher than ever before. The pioneering of underwater motion capture technology has reportedly played a major role in these sequels, hinting at an audience experience unlike any other. It seems that Cameron has next level underwater filmmaking cornered for the time being, leaving big league filmmakers scratching their heads in an effort to come up with something bigger. For some time now, however, it appeared that Cruise and director Doug Liman would be heading to outer space in order to film an action movie.
Unfortunately, Cruise and Liman’s hopes of being the first to film a motion picture in space have been dashed by Russia. As per a thread of tweets from Euronews Next, Russia has sent a crew to the international space station to undergo a 12-day production schedule that will see filming take place entirely in space. The film will be directed by Klim Shipenko and is a joint production from the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos and Russian state TV Channel One. The film, entitled The Challenge, will star Russian actress Yulia Peresild. Check out the video below:
At present, details on the film’s plot are not available, though it is known that both Shipenko and Peresild underwent three months of training in order to prepare for their trip to orbit. Exactly how this will effect Cruise’s passion project is hard to say, though the Russian production is unlikely to sway the Mission: Impossible star from his desire to film in space. For now, this latest milestone can be added to the lengthy list of times that Russia has beaten the United States to space for one reason or another. In 1961, Russia (then known as the Soviet Union) became the first nation in history to achieve a human flight into space. The Soviet Union was also the first nation in history to land a spacecraft on the moon, completing the task in 1959, and the first nation in history to land a spacecraft on Mars in 1971.
Beating Hollywood and the United States to the punch might grate on the nerves of some, but in all reality, it’s Tom Cruise who will have the last laugh. It’s safe to say that there isn’t another actor like him anywhere else in the world, and any production that he’s involved with is always going to push its limits. What’s more, Cruise’s film – even if negatively reviewed - will attract audiences globally, boding extremely well for the film’s chances of outperforming The Challenge. It’s also fair to assume that Cruise and Liman will be able to learn from the inevitable mistakes of The Challenge’s production, thereby strengthening their own project.
Source: Euronews Next