The youths don’t know, but Tom Cruise used to make straight dramas, character ensembles and even romances and lighter comedies. The youths don’t remember because Tom has spent the better part of two decades solely doing action films. He should have aged out of action films years ago, but he’s still going and still developing even crazier, stunt-heavy projects. Well, one of those projects has fallen apart. The “why” of it all is fascinating. Apparently, Tom wanted to make a space movie, but he would have needed cooperation from Space X and NASA. The project was shelved, perhaps forever, because Tom has no desire to work with or ask favors from Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
Tom Cruise didn’t want to ask Donald Trump for a favor to help his ambitious outer space movie blast off, sources tell Page Six. It’s perhaps the latest instance of how Trump can get movies made these days, and how Cruise is allegedly reluctant to court the commander-in-chief.
Back in 2020, Deadline reported that the “Mission: Impossible” star was aiming to shoot a film in outer space with his “Edge of Tomorrow” director Doug Liman, and cooperation from Space X and NASA. Five years later, an insider familiar with the filmmakers told Page Six of the ambitious project: “From what I understand, they would need NASA coordination to do the movie, and supposedly Tom Cruise did not want to ask Donald Trump for a favor. You’d need permission from the federal government.”
The source added, “Tom didn’t want to ask for political reasons.”
Cruise has stayed largely apolitical over the years, and the source said he did not want to alienate fans by starting now. The Washington Post reported earlier this year that Cruise turned down a recent 2025 Kennedy Center honor from Trump, citing “scheduling conflicts.”
A Trump-appointed NASA head previously expressed support for the Cruise space project, even indicating via tweet it could shoot on the International Space Station. But the NASA official and the tweet are long gone, and space insiders tell Page Six there have never been any further discussions inside the space agency about the film.
Universal was reportedly interested in boarding Cruise’s space project. But logistics for the shoot-for-the-moon movie seemed tricky at best, as it was unclear if Cruise, 63, and company could even get insured for a a space-set feature. The star is known for being in great shape and doing his own death-defying stunts. Page Six also heard rumors that the space film hit a snag when Liman failed a physical to launch. But another source said that Liman, 60, is in great shape.
From where I sit, the project probably fell apart for multiple reasons, only some of which were related to Trump, Musk and the state of American politics. But I appreciate that Tom wants absolutely no part of dealing with Trump or asking any of those people for favors or cooperation. It’s true that Cruise is pretty apolitical – he subscribes to Michael Jordan’s “Republicans buy sneakers too” philosophy – but I don’t doubt that he has many personal, professional, financial, moral and ethical reasons for not wanting to cozy up to Trump and the MAGA cult.
Note by CB: Cruise has been cleaning up his image quite a bit, and some of that is genuine. He supports other filmmakers and is known for how professional and hardworking he is. Although it may look like he’s distancing himself from Scientology, he was just at a big Scientology gala in England last month.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
