Russia beats Tom Cruise to film the first feature-length film in space and releases trailer

Russian film The Challenge has become the first film to be shot in space, despite Tom Cruise wanting to achieve the impressive accolade.

Due to be released next month, The Challenge will feature footage that was capture roughly 250 miles above earth as it was filmed on location at the International Space Station (ISS).

The film was produced by the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, and will feature real astronauts who worked alongside cast on the intense shoot.

For those that are curious, The Challenge will centre around a female cardiac surgeon who becomes involved in space exploration after an emergency on the ISS.

Despite having little training as an astronaut, Dr Zhenya leads an incredible mission to save the life of her friend and fellow cosmonaut.

Zhenya (played by Yulia Peresild) will also encounter misogyny as the she prepares to operate in a danger zero gravity situation and when the respect of her crew.

Roscosmos TV

Though it may sound a little far-fetched for some, the film was produced with the support of Roscosmos who invested over 1.1 billion roubles ($14.4m) into the project.

According to state-controlled TV Channel One, the movie will aim to 'popularise Russia's space activities and glorify the cosmonaut profession'.

It even has appearances from real-life astronauts Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov as they served on the ISS during filming.

The landmark announcement will come as a bitter blow to actor Tom Cruise, who’d been working with NASA and Space X on his own out of this world film.

Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

While little is known about the upcoming project, the actor was set to film over eight days in 2021 and accompany Space X crew on their Dragon 1 mission.

Sadly, Cruise failed get off the ground and the project has been delayed again following the rescheduled 2022 launch.

The film is set to cost over $200 million, and all those delays will undoubtedly have put a hole in the astronomical budget.

Thankfully, Universal did confirm that the movie was still going ahead with Cruise expected to become the first civilian to ever do a space walk outside of the Space Station.