Tom Cruise Space Movie Loses? Russian Actress Going to ISS to Shoot First-Ever Film in Space [Launch Date, Key Details]

After attending spaceflight training earlier this September, Russian actress Yulia Peresild is ready to take off to the International Space Station (ISS) next week to shoot the first movie done in space.

It will make Tom Cruise's space movie just the second to be filmed in space. The space movie is in collaboration with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, SpaceX and NASA. Cruise will be launching in outer space with movie director Doug Liman.

According to Space Shuttle Almanac's tweet, Cruise's official launch to the ISS is scheduled this October. Unfortunately for him, Peresild's movie will be the first to film in the ISS.

First-Ever Film in Space: Casts and Preparations

Director and actor Klim Shipenko said that the upcoming Russian space film story will be about a doctor saving a cosmonaut's life.

"This movie is built around a story of an ordinary person... a doctor who had nothing to do with space exploration and never thought about it is offered to travel to the ISS... and save a cosmonaut's life," the director expounded, per The Sun.

Given that the film will be done in outer space, Peresild told The Sun that she learned to do her own costume and make-up. Peresild added that her level of expertise in doing make-up will not be the same as what she does on Earth, but she assured people that she will do her best. Aside from the Russian actress, Peresild will be joined by Shipenko and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov.

Shkaplerov also clarified to The Sun that he will not be starring in the space film, but he would like to figure out how a movie is produced in an unusual place.

Launch Date and More

Coordinating hub for space activities Roscosmos announced the project in May. The said space drama will be co-produced by the head of Roscosmos, Dimitry Rogozin, the state-run Russian network Channel One, and Moscow-based film studio Yellow, Black, and White. The space movie will be titled "Challenge"

According to Space.com, Shipenko, Peresild and Shkaplerov are scheduled to take off to the ISS on October 5. The trio will lift off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome before 5 am. UPI added that once landed, Shipenko and Pereslid will spend 12 days in orbit while10 days will be devoted to filming the movie. A trained Cosmonaut, Shkaplerov will guide the mission to outer space.

In line with this, Space.com said that a Russian Soyuz crew capsule has been relocated to a new port station for the arrival of another Soyuz vehicle carrying the Russian film crew.

Course lecturer on Russian studies Kaylin Land also said to UPI that Roscosmos is planning to air a reality TV series of Persild and Shipenko's training for spaceflight, similar to the ongoing Netflix series where the all-civilian SpaceX Inspiration4 crew share their training and experience.