Opening in 2024, SEE-1 will host film and TV productions, as well as livestreams for social media influencers
Back in 2020, Tom Cruise announced plans to team up with Elon Musk’s SpaceX programme and NASA, in a bid to shoot the first-ever feature film in space. Originally set to blast off in October 2021, however, the project was pushed back a few months due to some issues with its $200 million budget, allowing the Russian space agency Roscosmos to pull ahead with their own off-world production, completing a 12-day shoot aboard the ISS late last year.
It’s not unusual for the US to rewrite the terms of the space race, though, and that’s just what they look set to do with the announcement of the first full film studio in space, planned to launch in 2024. Good to see we’ve got our priorities in order.
Helmed by the film studio behind Cruise’s still-forthcoming space film – Space Entertainment Enterprise (SEE) – the project will involve the development of a dedicated module, with plans to dock on the commercial wing of the ISS, Axiom Station.
Officially named SEE-1, the site is set to host film and TV productions, as well as sports events and livestreams for social media influencers (question: do we all have the same 24 hours in a day if some of us are completing a full orbit of Earth every 90 minutes?).
“SEE-1 is an incredible opportunity for humanity to move into a different realm and start an exciting new chapter in space,” say SEE co-founders Dmitry and Elena Lesnevsky in a joint statement. “It will provide a unique and accessible home for boundless entertainment possibilities in a venue packed with innovative infrastructure, which will unleash a new world of creativity.”
“With worldwide leader Axiom Space building this cutting-edge, revolutionary facility, SEE-1 will provide not only the first, but also the supreme quality space structure enabling the expansion of the two trillion-dollar global entertainment industry into low-Earth orbit.”
Right now, there are still a few details left to be hammered out, however. On SEE’s website, for instance, the “Space Arena” is depicted as a large, white sphere affixed to the ISS, but the design of the interior remains unclear. The on-site audience capacity for sporting events is also TBC, though recent tourist space flights suggest that there will be plenty of appetite among Earth’s wealthy elite. Maybe they’ll be able to stay in Jeff Bezos’ space hotel.
In the meantime, Tom Cruise’s mysterious action adventure film and Russia’s The Challenge will presumably give us a taste of what to expect from future space-based productions. Despite the safe landing of actor Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko in October, a release date is yet to be announced for the Russian space drama.
