James Cameron And Tom Cruise Talked About Filming A Movie In Outer Space

As the Mission: Impossible franchise has taught us, Tom Cruise is up for anything – especially if it's dangerous. And what could be more dangerous than going to space? While the Mission franchise might not ever journey to the stars, Tom Cruise did almost blast off once – with James Cameron. According to Cameron, he once wanted to make a movie with Cruise in space. And of course, Tom Cruise was up for it.

Sooner or later, Tom Cruise will end up in space. I don't know what the circumstances will be, but I know it will happen, because it seems inevitable. And if James Cameron had his way, it would've happened by now. In an interview with Empire, Cameron revealed that back in 2000, he pitched the idea of making a space movie in actual space to Cruise:

"I actually talked to [Cruise] about doing a space film in space, about 15 years ago. I had a contract with the Russians in 2000 to go to the International Space Station and shoot a high-end 3D documentary there. And I thought, 'S—, man, we should just make a feature.' I said, 'Tom, you and I, we'll get two seats on the Soyuz, but somebody's gotta train us as engineers.' Tom said, 'No problem, I'll train as an engineer.' We had some ideas for the story, but it was still conceptual."

Tom Cruise saying "I'll train as an engineer" is the most Tom Cruise thing ever, and I sure wish this had happened. Alas, it never came to pass, and now Cameron will be making Avatar sequels for the next 50 years. I would love to know more about this film – what was the plot? Were aliens involved? Was Tom Cruise going to find a way to run through space? So many questions.

Of course, you have to ask yourself: is any of this necessary? Assuming this film ever happened, it would likely be set primarily within the Space Station – and blasting all the way into space to just shoot some scenes that could easily be filmed on a set seems like a major endeavor. Then again, Cameron and Cruise are both the type of individuals who thrive on pushing things to the limit, and beyond. Cruise loves to risk his life, and Cameron likes to innovate with his filmmaking. Rather than simulate being under the water with his upcoming Avatar sequel, Cameron went ahead and filmed it underwater. "We've thrown a lot of horsepower, innovation, imagination and new technology at the problem," Cameron said, regarding his underwater motion capture shooting, "and it's taken us about a year and a half now to work out how we're going to do it."

That's exactly the type of filmmaker who would say, "Hey, Tom Cruise, let's go make a movie in space."