While the rest of us are hosting dance parties over Zoom, Tom Cruise used the video chat service to secure a $200 million budget for a movie where he goes to space.
As reported back in May, the Mission: Impossible star and Elon Musk have teamed up to make the first “narrative movie filmed in outer space,” with Universal Studios footing the bill. How does one convince a movie studio to hand over $200 million for something that’s never been accomplished before? By asking nicely through a laptop, apparently.
“According to sources, all it took was an exuberant Zoom call with Tom Cruise, director Doug Liman, [Mission: Impossible — Fallout director] Christopher McQuarrie, and [producer] PJ van Sandwijk,” Deadline reports. “They pitched the picture with no script (Liman is writing it), and came away with a production commitment around $200 million.” Musk will be a “partner” on the project, while McQuarrie “will have a ground control role as story advisor and producer alongside Cruise, Liman and van Sandwijk.”
It’s literally major Tom to ground control:
The $200 million figure is an estimate, considering the project is still being scripted and the unprecedented logistics, but it costs more to make space-set blockbusters that never require breaking through the atmosphere. It seems a reasonable sum to make movie history for a movie studio in this pandemic moment when streamers are making all the noise.
Vin Diesel has already asked for $300 million for the next Fast and Furious movie.
(Via Deadline)
