Casting for the ‘first feature film to be shot on the International Space Station’ is starting in Russia as the country hopes to beat Tom Cruise and the US to the punch.
Russian space agency Roscosmos is working with the country’s largest TV channel – Channel One – to find a ‘superwoman’ to front the space-based movie.
They have tough competition for the title of ‘first movie shot on the ISS’ though, as Tom Cruise is due to fly to the station in October 2021 as part of a deal with NASA and Elon Musk owned SpaceX – he will fly on the Crew Dragon spaceship.
Very little is know about the US film other than the fact Cruise will front it, with director Doug Liman joining him on the ISS to film the space-based scenes.
The lead actress in the Russian movie, provisionally dubbed ‘The Challenge’ will be found through a series of gruelling open auditions on Channel One.
The woman will be aged 25 to 45 with a ‘chest girth up to 44 inches’ and an ability to flawlessly recite the poem – Pushkin’s letter from Tatiana to Eugene Onegin.
Casting begins for the role of Russia’s lead female actress in the first movie shot in outer space. The leading actress will fly to the ISS at the end of 2021 along with a leading man and director
Russia will soon begin casting for a woman to front their movie, which is backed by Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, and a number of media partners
The announcement of the Russian film amounts to a space movie race with the west, competing against NASA, Elon Musk and Tom Cruise.
Producers had intended to cast for male and female actors, but the script made more sense with a woman, according to a report by the Russian news agency TASS.
‘We are seeking a woman who would be able to act on Earth, then endure the most demanding preparation, go to space and there in the state of zero gravity to sort the most complicated filming issues’, said Russian general producer Alexey Trotsyuk.
‘This is the first time our studio faced such a demanding task, so we need to find not just an actress but a true superhero.’
The Russian ‘space drama’ is a joint project involving Roscosmos, Channel One and Yellow, Black and White studio.
All aspects of preparing for the movie, including selecting the actress will be broadcast on Russia’s Channel One who is partnering with Roscosmos on the project
In a new space race, that pits Hollywood against the Russian entertainment industry, the Russian movie will be filmed at a similar time to a film starring Tom Cruise (pictured here in the film Oblivion with Olga Kurylenko)
The leading actress in the Russian movie will be put through three months of rigorous training at the Russian Cosmonaut School including underwater training
The winner of the open auditions broadcast on Channel One, will undergo training at a school for cosmonauts and have to be approved by flight commissioners.
The main actress will have to prove her sporting prowess, have a higher education and no criminal record just to make it into the shortlist of 30 finalists.
Filming with the woman as lead character will be undertaken at the International Space Station next autumn, at the same time the Musk movie is planned.
There could be a point where two movies are being filmed in space back to back.
Vladimir Putin’s space chief Dmitry Rogozin, head of space agency Roscosmos, has appointed himself a producer of ‘The Challenge’.
No specific details have been revealed about the plot for either the Russian or the US movies, beyond the fact they will have scenes set and filmed in space.
Both movies will see the star and director head up to the station, with Russian director Klim Shipenko going with the unknown Russian actress next year.
The International Space Station includes modules built by various nations, with the bulk of the orbiting laboratory built and managed by either NASA or Roscosmos.
The actresses who are hoping to be able to take on the lead role and venture into orbit will be put through a series of medical, psychological and physical tests.
The final selection will see two winners – the main character and her double, with a leading man selected separately who will also go into space.
All stages of the preparation for the Russian film will be shown on Channel One in a bid to ‘popularise Russia’s space activities and glorify the cosmonaut profession’.
The Russian actress will also go up in the ‘vomit comet’, an aircraft that simulates weightlessness for seconds at a time to prepare for microgravity of the ISS
The winning actress will spend ten days on the International Space Station more than 200 miles above the surface of the Earth
Both movies will see the star and director head up to the station, with Russian director Klim Shipenko going with the unknown Russian actress next yea
‘This is a unique space experiment. The actress selected through the contest and a medical commission will have to perform the functions of a cosmonaut-researcher and to become a full member of the crew,’ said Rogozin .
While the Russian actress will launch in a Soyuz capsule, Tom Cruise is booked to fly with Elon Musk’s SpaceX in a Crew Dragon capsule – that was also the first commercial spaceship design to take astronauts to the ISS in 2020.
NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria will be the pilot on the trip and there is one, as yet unfilled, tourist place available in the new four-person Crew Dragon.
It had been announced earlier this year that Cruise and Liman had teamed up with SpaceX founder Elon Musk and NASA to make a movie aboard the ISS.
Back in May, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted: ‘NASA is excited to work with @TomCruise on a film aboard the @Space_Station!’
The actresses who are hoping to be able to take on the lead role and venture into orbit will be put through a series of medical, psychological and physical tests
‘Excited’: Back in May, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine had confirmed the rumors of Cruises project with this tweet
He explained: ‘We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make @NASA’s ambitious plans a reality.’
Little else is known about Cruise’s plans to shoot in space except that it’s believed Liman has penned a draft screenplay for the project.
Public private partnerships are expected to be a major part of the future of the ISS, with NASA pulling some of the funding in the coming years to focus on the Moon.
President Vladimir Putin is seen here with the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin who has appointed himself the producer of the new movie
Friends: Cruise, 58, and Liman, 55, worked together on the films American Made, released in 2017, (pictured) and 2014’s Edge Of Tomorrow and both share a passion for planes. Both are expected to fly to the ISS in October 2021
As well as new feature films with A-list actors, a US production company is working on a reality television show where the prize is a trip to space with a 10-day stay.
Called ‘Space Hero‘, the show’s champion will launch aboard a rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) for a 10-day stay with the crew, as reported by Deadline.
Commercial firms are also looking to space, with up to ten bottles of a new Estée Lauder skincare serum delivered to the station earlier this year.
NASA astronauts will film them in the station’s microgravity environment with the makeup company using footage in a social media campaign.
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
