Tom Cruise's Outer Space-Shot Movie Has It's Director And An Important Partner
Doug Liman will boldly go where no film director has gone before. Liman plans to accompany Tom Cruise on the action adventure film to be shot in outer space that is being mounted independently (for now) and involves Elon Musk’s Space X and NASA. Liman, who directed Cruise on the movies American Made and Edge of Tomorrow, and who separately directed such hits as Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Bourne Identity, Go and Swingers, is eager to re-team on this first of its kind project...
In case you haven't seen some of these other Liman movies, here is a quick refresher.
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When it was initially announced that Cruise was interested in doing a movie like this, my first reaction was "Well, obviously". Nobody else but Cruise would be psycho enough to try this and I mean that in the best way possible. Right after that, I made a shortlist of directors that would fit the bill for this and it was Christopher McQuarrie, James Cameron, Neill Blomkamp, and Liman. I this movie is obviously going to take a certain level of ingenuity to make work from a technical standpoint, but almost as important is making sure its a good story and that it works stylistically. If the movie depends all on the "gimmick" of being actually in space, it would be a huge shame and honestly a waste of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Cruise.
I think Liman is a good choice not only for his ability to direct good action, but also for his ability to curate a unique sci-fi vibe. This is basically my pitch for you to watch 'Edge of Tomorrow', which is insanely underrated IMO. I think he is also skilled at being able give quick, but thorough enough, characterization to action characters so they aren't just one dimensional goons. What I really want to see now is a good co-writer attached to the screenplay, and a skilled cinematographer to make sure this looks the way it deserves. For my money, Hoyte van Hoytema is the best space cinematographer in the business, but that is also confined to work on a stage. That's not exactly the same thing as being shot into space and filming in zero g.
The other interesting aspect of this movie is the Space-X involvement. Musk is obviously very passionate about the subject and the quality of this movie might define public opinion on private spaceflight for a little while. Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't done all he could to be an EP on this project yet. Anyway, good luck with the Falcon 9 today and being VP to Dave in the future!