Tom Cruise at the New York premiere of the new Mission Impossible film

Credit: AP

Tom Cruise has asserted he is “definitely” still set on making a film in space.

In 2020, the Hollywood actor and director Doug Liman revealed plans to board the International Space Station for a feature film in collaboration with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and NASA.

At the ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ premiere on Monday, Cruise addressed the ambitious project again.

“We’re working on that. I’m working on that, definitely,” he said.

“I’ve always wanted to do that… We’ve been doing a lot of research for years.”

When Cruise first announced his plans, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine took to Twitter to confirm the agency’s involvement : “NASA is excited to work with @TomCruise on a film aboard the @Space_Station.“We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make @NASA’s ambitious plans a reality.”

Details of the film’s plot and cast have not been publicised, but the project reportedly carries a budget in the $200 million (approximately £153m) range.

When Cruise first spoke of his idea, it seemed he would be the first person to shoot a feature-length film in space. However, a few months after his announcement, Russia released a trailer for an orbit-set film.

The plot of Russia’s film centres around a female cardiac surgeon Zhenya, played by Yulia Peresild.

The resulting movie, The Challenge, came out in April this year. The cast spent 12 days in space and the plot centres on a surgeon rushing to the International Space Station to save a crew member who needs an urgent operation in orbit.

The Challenge has an official budget of about 1.115 billion roubles (£12.4 million).

Cruise currently stars in ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’, the latest installment in his blockbuster spy franchise.

Christopher McQuarrie returns for the third time as director of the series and he’s brought back love interest/spy Rebecca Ferguson, comic relief buddies Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby as The White Widow and Henry Czerny as slimy Eugene Kittridge.

The film was released on Monday in the UK.