Russians beat Tom Cruise as first to film a movie in space, despite docking drama
The International Space Station is now a film set, and it served as the stage for a little extra drama Tuesday morning.
Veteran Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, actor Yulia Peresild and film producer Klim Shipenko traveled to the International Space Station on Tuesday. Peresild and Shipenko will be filming segments for the movie "Challenge" -- the first feature film shot in space. The movie will tell the story of a surgeon who has to operate on a sick cosmonaut in space because his medical condition prevents him from returning to Earth to be treated.
The three space travelers blasted off on board a Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:55 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The speedy Soyuz delivered them to the space station around 8:22 a.m. ET, despite unexpected communications issues that led to Shkaplerov taking manual control of the spacecraft to complete docking with the space station. This added about 10 minutes to the expected docking time.
Also at BBC.
Related: Filming an Action Movie on the Space Station?
Related Stories
Last year NASA said it would allow two private astronaut missions a year. Now NASA apparently said it is working with Tom Cruise about filming a movie on the ISS.
Unless they want to go for that Blair Witch cinematography effect, given the limited volume to move around in the ISS — and the need for a small film crew — I wonder if this would be a case where you'd actually prefer a green screen instead.
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 05 2021, @10:38PM (8 children)
Well, after several decades they at least FINALLY found some use for the ISS for work that can't be done back on Earth. Hundreds of millions of dollars for billionaire joyrides and shooting movies. And I'm sure, just like the last time, science! will be a major justification when selling its replacement.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 05 2021, @10:59PM (3 children)
They already sunk $150 billion into it. Might as well shoot some movies in it.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:08AM (2 children)
"The Challenge is in a race with Tom Cruise and Doug Liman to shoot the first narrative feature film in space."
"In May 2020, it was reported that Liman would be directing, writing, and producing the first fictional movie shot in outer space. Tom Cruise is set to star and produce.[14] Both will fly to space and to the International Space Station as part of the SpaceX Axiom Space-2 mission."
So, a new space race is on!
Oh, Russia won it, you say, as the Russkies are already there and "Axiom Mission 2 (or Ax-2) is a planned SpaceX Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station, operated by SpaceX on behalf of Axiom Space. Its first two crew members have been announced in May 2021.[3] In June 2021, SpaceX confirmed that the mission would fly in Fall 2022 on a Crew Dragon."
Jeeez, you could have hyped this for a decade so that there was some jeopardy.
I wonder what US astronauts think about science-rejecter Tom Cruise taking up space on the ISS? The cosmonauts didn't react too well to this vanity project:
"""
The film, which according to Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, is an "experiment to see if Roscosmos can prepare two ordinary people to fly in about 3 or 4 months" has received opposition from the scientific and aerospace communities, as to the fact that they remove trained cosmonauts from their flights, a misuse of public money,[25] or even that using the station's resources for non-scientific purposes would be illegal.[26] Sergei Krikalev, director of crewed programs at Roscosmos, reportedly lost his position by speaking out against the project,[27] but was reinstated after a few days following protests from cosmonauts on and off active duty.[11]
"""
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @12:34PM (1 child)
Do you think Tom Cruise knows about the NASA vaccine mandate? That might sink the whole project!
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday October 07 2021, @07:54AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 05 2021, @11:45PM (3 children)
If by for science you mean some grade A russian zero-g p0rn. I'll watch that for a dollar.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @12:24AM (2 children)
some of Yulia's [wikipedia.org] work could have been pron titles. just sayin.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:00AM
The Bride, Captive, Crush, The Abduction, The Edge... some of my favorite snuff films.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @04:41AM
Oh, it's not Yulia... Nova.
(has sad face)
(looks away)
(still very sad)
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday October 05 2021, @10:47PM
Puts another crack in the space station, and everybody has to hole up in the same capsule
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @12:20AM
They took off from Kazakstan and they're making a film... sounds like a job for Borat.
(Score: 3, Touché) by MostCynical on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:42AM (4 children)
with all those men..
hope she is being paid well
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:17AM (2 children)
She got this. Better worry about the dudes instead.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 06 2021, @05:47AM (1 child)
tappety-tappety-tap ...
"Peresildi vanavanavanemad olid eestlased, kuid nad küüditati Venemaale." -- https://kroonika.delfi.ee/artikkel/65840832/eesti-juurtega-naitlejanna-julia-peresild-tudrukute-salajutud-peaosas?
Peresild's great grandparents were Estonians, which were deported to Russia, as part of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_deportations_from_Estonia
At least she kept her name in tact, typically they get mangled as you cross the border. As do you.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:25AM
Are we gonna split hairs here? Am i wrong?
Sooner or later, you are going to have to face the fact that you’re a moron.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 06 2021, @05:48AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:28AM (6 children)
Not only an actress, but a producer, has gone further into space than he has. LOL! The Great Pretender is being out pretended by a people paid to pretend.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:48AM (5 children)
He got Shatner... consolation prize
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:21AM (4 children)
Wait until Shatner finds out he got the booby prize.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Wednesday October 06 2021, @07:18AM (3 children)
Really hoping Wil Wheaton gets to go on a spacex trip, a proper trip into space, unlike William Fucking Shatner [wilwheaton.net]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @07:59AM (2 children)
I'm honestly not sure who I'd like to see blow up more; Wheaton or Shatner. Both are insufferably arrogant.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @09:50AM
Wheaton has more to lose than the 90 year old Shatner.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @04:34PM
I always appreciated that Wheaton posted on Slashdot. Not many celebs participate in activities with the hoi poloi as regular members.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by legont on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:18PM (2 children)
Yulia is an actress; just saying...
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @10:14PM
Didn't you get the memo? Genders are now assigned randomly and changed frequently.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @10:37PM
"Actress" went out of favor many years ago [latimes.com], well before #metoo and all of that, where the profession is "actor" and one is a male or female actor. That said, you might enjoy the last part of that story:
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @04:37PM
Naughty movies do seem like the perfect genre for that setting. Barbarella set the tone back in the day, so why not make it a reality now?
Washington DC delenda est.