A New Film Studio Is Being Built In Actual Space
Pffft, imagine being a filmmaker trying to recreate the unforgiving conditions found in the vacuum of space through the use of models, fancy visual effects, or special aircraft simulating the effect of zero-gravity conditions. That's pretty much how it's always been done since the days of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the original "Star Wars," all the way up to "Gravity" and "Interstellar." But here's a radical thought: why go to all that trouble when one could simply just ... go to space and make your movie there?
That's the oddly straightforward thinking behind a new film studio that's set to launch — literally speaking, as in on an actual rocket — within the next few years. Space Entertainment Enterprise, the UK company co-producing that ambitious Tom Cruise movie scheduled to head to space and film on the International Space Station (ISS), has announced their plans for a brand-new, wholly unprecedented film and television studio that will operate in lower Earth orbit. Called SEE-1, this orbital studio would somehow be able to host film productions, television, music, and even sporting events(!), all while doubling as the one-stop shop for "the development, production, recording, broadcasting and live-streaming of content" ... in spaaaaace!
Check out all the details below.
Eat Your Heart Out, Stanley Kubrick
This out-of-this-world news, which is being reported by The Hollywood Reporter, is only the latest instance of Hollywood's increasingly bold push into the final frontier. Along with the aforementioned Tom Cruise-starring and Doug Liman-directed movie, Russia recently blasted off its own production crew into space to film a movie on the International Space Station. Even Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience zero gravity firsthand, after only pretending to do so for decades on "Star Trek."
According to the report, SEE co-founders Elena and Dmitry Lesnevsky are planning to accomplish this feat by attaching their production module to the Axiom Station, a proposed space station that will essentially be the private sector's spin on the International Space Station. In fact, the new space station will actually be built as an extension of the ISS before splitting off and functioning as its own orbital platform altogether once fully constructed. That "once fully constructed" part is kind of the fly in the ointment, however, as all these grand plans won't come to fruition until December of 2024, at the earliest. But the SEE team isn't letting that little detail put a damper on things, as you can see from Elena and Dmitry Lesnevsky's statement:
"SEE-1 is an incredible opportunity for humanity to move into a different realm and start an exciting new chapter in space. 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."
If you thought insurance on "Mission: Impossible" movies was a logistical nightmare, I can't even fathom how complicated that will be for a film and television studio orbiting the Earth. On the bright side, maybe this will at least help convince flat-earthers that the globe is, in fact, a globe? Where history and education fails, entertainment may succeed!
This could either mark a fresh new era in moviemaking and human advancement, or a failure just waiting to happen. Either way, we'll be watching closely ... from the ground, thank you very much.