Tom Cruise Wants ‘Back Into the Awards Races’ After Lining Up ‘Stacked’ Cast for Upcoming Film

Tom Cruise has assembled a killer supporting cast for his upcoming untitled Warner Bros. movie, and sources exclusively tell In Touch that Hollywood bigwigs are certainly paying attention.

The four-time Oscar nominee, 62, is starring in and producing the latest feature from filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñàrritu. In August, it was revealed that Oscar-nominated Anatomy of a Fall actress Sandra Hüller, Emmy winner John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons and Talk to Me actress Sophie Wilde have joined the cast.

According to a high-level insider, Tom will play an Elon Musk-like billionaire facing a monumental professional crisis.

“For once, Tom is playing somebody with more juice than Tom has in his own real life,” the source says, revealing that, while he isn’t portraying Elon himself, the character resembles the 53-year-old SpaceX founder.

The role echoes “somebody with that level of power, wealth and influence,” explains the insider.

While details are scarce, Deadline reported that the film will center around the most powerful man in the world, who is determined to prove he is humanity’s savior. Instead, things go terribly wrong.

“The script is under lock and key, but what’s shocking is the super-stacked cast Tom and his team have assembled, including getting Sandra Hüller in her biggest English-language role to date,” the source says.

“This is a major flex, and it’s shocking because these are the kind of actors who wouldn’t be caught dead in a Mission: Impossible movie and are extremely picky and script-focused when it comes to choosing movies,” adds the insider. “All of them have been leads in major hits and major successes.”

Judging by the buzz Tom is already creating for the film, it appears that the actor is gunning for his very first Oscar. While he’s been nominated for Best Actor twice (for his performances in Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire), Best Supporting actor once (for Magnolia) and Best Picture (for Top Gun: Maverick), he’s never actually taken home the gold.

“This is a pretty loud-and-clear signal to Hollywood that Tom wants back into the awards races in a major way,” says the source. “And they want to get this movie out next fall at the latest.”

Adds the insider, “Shooting starts in a few weeks, and it’s going to be a real globe-trotting production, which of course is how Tom likes it!”

Tom also has other big movie plans up his sleeve. “He still counts on his relationship with Elon to assist in the planned space-station movie he still wants to make in the next three years,” says the source, referring to a project Tom wants to film in outer space.

The project was first announced by NASA back in 2020, and Elon teased in a tweet, “Should be a lot of fun!”

While at last year’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One premiere in New York City, Tom was asked about the status of the space-set film.

“We’ve been working on it diligently,” he told Variety. “We’ll see where we go.”