- Tom Cruise has many ties to Florida: His mother lived near Naples, and he owns a condo near Clearwater.
- The SpaceX Inspiration4 crew spoke to Tom Cruise via Zoom call while they were in space.
- NASA was in talks with Tom Cruise to film a movie.
Will Tom Cruise launch to space via a SpaceX rocket? According to his IMDB page, it's in pre-production.
Time will tell for the action superstar, who's well-known for performing his own death-defying stunts in his films:
- Hanging on to the side of a plane? Check.
- Scaling skyscrapers, rock climbing at jaw-dropping heights? Done.
- "Launching" from the top of a mountain on a motorcycle into the valley below? Complete.
The Academy Award-nominated actor, whose latest film "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning," opens in theaters May 23, has toyed with the idea of launching to space sans CGI and green screens. In fact, he was in talks of shooting scenes at the International Space Station and using SpaceX to get there.
The part-time Florida resident owns a condo in the Clearwater area.
Here's what to know about Tom Cruise, the actor famous for saying, "Your mission, should you choose to accept it," and his impossible mission to the International Space Station.
Is Tom Cruise going to space? Will Tom Cruise shoot a film on International Space Station?
As of May 21, 2025, days before "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning" opens in theaters, it was not known whether Tom Cruise will launch to space via a SpaceX rocket or when. But, according to the actor's IMDB (internet movie database) page, Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman "travel far beyond Earth to film the first ever Hollywood motion picture in outer space," with the work in pre-production for the "Untitled Tom Cruise/SpaceX Project."
The "Tom Cruise launches to space" idea was apparently floated in 2020 and 2021 following a SpaceX-NASA rocket launch near Cape Canaveral, Florida.
On Sept. 15, 2021, SpaceX's fourth crewed launch, Inspiration4, lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The four-person crew, all civilians, became astronauts overnight — billionaire Jared Isaacman, who became President Donald Trump's pick to lead the space agency in 2025; healthcare worker/cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux; professor and science communicator Sian Proctor; and Lockheed Martin engineer Chris Sembroski.
In 2021, Inspiration4 spent three days in space conducting science experiments. The flight began at Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A and ended a few dozen miles away with splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. Isaacman had paid an undisclosed sum for all four to fly.
During the crew's 17,500 mph orbits around Earth, they hosted a Zoom session with patients at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and they spoke with movie star Tom Cruise, according to a Sept. 19, 2021, FLORIDA TODAY story. The "Top Gun: Maverick" star was set to fly a different Crew Dragon mission and film scenes for an upcoming movie.
NASA had said in 2020 that it was in discussions with Cruise to film a movie on the International Space Station, but there have been no more updates about the Cruise movie deal and the space agency.
Was there a film shot at the International Space Station?
While Tom Cruise has yet to shoot a film on the International Space Station, a movie was filmed there in October 2021.
A Russian actress, Yulia Peresild, and director Klim Shipenko headed to the International Space Station with cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. (In the US, they're astronauts; in Russia, it's cosmonaut.) The crew filmed scenes for a movie about a surgeon sent to the International Space Station to save a Russian astronaut.
"The Challenge" ("Vyzov" in Russian), is a 2023 space drama film shot on the International Space Station. It's the first feature-length film with actors shot in space. According to its IMDB page, the movie follows a surgeon who flies to the ISS to save a cosmonaut who suffers a heart attack.
Other than the IMDB page update, which is very brief, there have been no new reports of Tom Cruise heading to the International Space Station to shoot a film. There have been no new reports of a Tom Cruise and SpaceX collaboration since 2021 other than in the upcoming section of his IMDB bio, "Untitled Tom Cruise/SpaceX Project."
Where does Tom Cruise live? Does Tom Cruise live in Florida?
Tom Cruise is a part-time Florida resident who owns a condo in the Clearwater area. He has a home with a helipad on the roof.
In 2023, Cruise did fly out of Naples airport for "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One." "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning" is the sequel to that film.
His other ties to the Sunshine State involve his mother, Mary Lee Mapother South, who died at age 80 in her sleep in February 2017, according to news reports. She lived in Southwest Florida, on Marco Island, for many years. His daughter with ex-wife Nicole Kidman, Isabella Cruise, made headlines in 2024 for some of her artwork being shown in a Florida museum. His son with Kidman, Connor Cruise, has played golf and DJed in South Florida.
"Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning" opens in theaters May 23, 2025.
Contributing: John McCarthy, FLORIDA TODAY
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her onTwitteror Instagram at@byjensangalang. Support local journalism.Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
