There’s been such a run of pretty bad star-driven space movies, and some pretty bad Tom Cruise movies, that I’m not particularly enthused about this. The documentary about making the movie will likely be more interesting to me than the movie is.
Based on Cruise’s IMDb page, the film is entitled Luna Park.
The one-line plot summary says, “A group of renegade space workers venture to the moon to steal an energy source.”
The story credit is Mark Bowden and the lead screenwriting credit is Ken Nolan, the same team who also wrote the book and screenplay of Blackhawk Down, so at least the writing team is known to be able to produce good work.
The Producer/Director, Doug Liman, has decent sci-fi credentials. A few years ago, he directed Edge of Tomorrow, which was a sort of mash-up of Groundhog Day and Starship Troopers. Despite what that might sound like, it was actually quite a good movie. The stars were Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt so Liman also has some history with Cruise and, at least based on my evaluation of Edge of Tomorrow, it is good history.
I take a wait-and-see – or don’t see – attitude toward pretty much anything cinematic these days. But I am rather more hopeful about this project than most I’ve heard about recently.
Given Hollywood leadtimes, I wouldn’t expect to be seeing this notional puppy in release much before the Artemis 3 mission and maybe not even by then.
Cruise had kinda whiffed on Oblivion the year before – it wasn’t a complete dud, just forgettable – so I was downright shocked at how good and *intelligent* Edge of Tomorrow turned out to be – especially for what is, basically, an action sci-fi flick. A solid script, and Cruise was willing to play against type.
The “making of” clips on the home release of Edge of Tomorrow were particularly eye-opening, especially with regards to what you discuss below with Cruise’s dedication to his craft.
He has been doing as many of his own stunts as possible in all of his movies for quite a while; driving stunts, action sequences, etc. His dedication to “hustle back to the start” to get in take after take after take in a seemingly dull sequence (large group march in EoT) was especially humbling.
Actually, Cruise has been surprisingly good at picking good scripts. He’s not batting 1.000, but he generally succeeds more often than he fails. He’s managed the amazing feat of making each move in his Mission Impossible franchise – now nearly a quarter century old! – even better than the one before it.
His dedication to his craft is also staggering. I’m not sure I can think of a notable actor who puts himself on the line, at such high risk, as Cruise frequently does. Added to his gift for good scripts (and directors) and his preternatural resistance to the aging process, it’s possible to start understanding why the list of A List 1980’s movie actors who are still A List movie actors in 2020 pretty much starts and ends with Tom Cruise.
I say all this while at the same time thinking Cruise is a nut, a spokesman for a horrifically dangrous and delusional sect that’s wrecked many lives. I don’t particularly *like* him, but I am, reluctantly, forced to admire what he’s done as an actor and producer.
So if Cruise can generate a quality hit movie that gins up new interest and support for space exploration and economic development by shooting it literally in orbit, and he’s willing to ante up for the privilege, more power to him.
He could be the best of his generation. There are very few really good actors out there. Most of them play themselves and when they run their mouths on social media all the time, it prevents the suspension of disbelief because they cant play a character.
If Howard Wolowitz could go to space, why not Tom Cruise? He’s almost as tall.
“Tom Cruise is going to film a movie on the ISS.”
Bet me, Buckwheat.
Whether or not this gets done may hinge, to some degree, on how well Top Gun 2 works this Summer. Though “box Office” may have a new meaning these days.
There’s been such a run of pretty bad star-driven space movies, and some pretty bad Tom Cruise movies, that I’m not particularly enthused about this. The documentary about making the movie will likely be more interesting to me than the movie is.
Based on Cruise’s IMDb page, the film is entitled Luna Park.
The one-line plot summary says, “A group of renegade space workers venture to the moon to steal an energy source.”
The story credit is Mark Bowden and the lead screenwriting credit is Ken Nolan, the same team who also wrote the book and screenplay of Blackhawk Down, so at least the writing team is known to be able to produce good work.
The Producer/Director, Doug Liman, has decent sci-fi credentials. A few years ago, he directed Edge of Tomorrow, which was a sort of mash-up of Groundhog Day and Starship Troopers. Despite what that might sound like, it was actually quite a good movie. The stars were Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt so Liman also has some history with Cruise and, at least based on my evaluation of Edge of Tomorrow, it is good history.
I take a wait-and-see – or don’t see – attitude toward pretty much anything cinematic these days. But I am rather more hopeful about this project than most I’ve heard about recently.
Given Hollywood leadtimes, I wouldn’t expect to be seeing this notional puppy in release much before the Artemis 3 mission and maybe not even by then.
Cruise had kinda whiffed on Oblivion the year before – it wasn’t a complete dud, just forgettable – so I was downright shocked at how good and *intelligent* Edge of Tomorrow turned out to be – especially for what is, basically, an action sci-fi flick. A solid script, and Cruise was willing to play against type.
The “making of” clips on the home release of Edge of Tomorrow were particularly eye-opening, especially with regards to what you discuss below with Cruise’s dedication to his craft.
He has been doing as many of his own stunts as possible in all of his movies for quite a while; driving stunts, action sequences, etc. His dedication to “hustle back to the start” to get in take after take after take in a seemingly dull sequence (large group march in EoT) was especially humbling.
Actually, Cruise has been surprisingly good at picking good scripts. He’s not batting 1.000, but he generally succeeds more often than he fails. He’s managed the amazing feat of making each move in his Mission Impossible franchise – now nearly a quarter century old! – even better than the one before it.
His dedication to his craft is also staggering. I’m not sure I can think of a notable actor who puts himself on the line, at such high risk, as Cruise frequently does. Added to his gift for good scripts (and directors) and his preternatural resistance to the aging process, it’s possible to start understanding why the list of A List 1980’s movie actors who are still A List movie actors in 2020 pretty much starts and ends with Tom Cruise.
I say all this while at the same time thinking Cruise is a nut, a spokesman for a horrifically dangrous and delusional sect that’s wrecked many lives. I don’t particularly *like* him, but I am, reluctantly, forced to admire what he’s done as an actor and producer.
So if Cruise can generate a quality hit movie that gins up new interest and support for space exploration and economic development by shooting it literally in orbit, and he’s willing to ante up for the privilege, more power to him.
He could be the best of his generation. There are very few really good actors out there. Most of them play themselves and when they run their mouths on social media all the time, it prevents the suspension of disbelief because they cant play a character.
If Howard Wolowitz could go to space, why not Tom Cruise? He’s almost as tall.
“Tom Cruise is going to film a movie on the ISS.”
Bet me, Buckwheat.
Whether or not this gets done may hinge, to some degree, on how well Top Gun 2 works this Summer. Though “box Office” may have a new meaning these days.