First Ever Movie Shot in Space Released in Russia

The first feature film shot in space, titled “The Challenge,” was released in Russian cinemas on Thursday. In the process, Moscow celebrated a victory over the West.

It turns out they thought they were in a race against time to release their film before the one announced by Tom Cruise and SpaceX in 2020. I don’t believe that film even has a completed script, but director Doug Liman has been tapped to direct it.

Of course, Russian President Putin praised the successful launch of the film: "We are the first to have shot a feature film in orbit, aboard a spacecraft. Once again the first".

There had been several setbacks, including botched launches, on the production of the film, but it’s finally been released. I doubt we’ll get to see it in North America.

In "The Challenge" a surgeon, played by 38-year-old Yulia Peresild, is sent to the ISS to save a cosmonaut injured during a spacewalk.

Director Klim Shipenko shot 30 hours of space footage, 50 minutes of which were used in the final cut. Peresild and Shipenko underwent training for four months before going to space on a Soyuz spacecraft accompanied by an astronaut.

One of the producers, Russian TV network Channel One’s Konstantin Ernst, did not hide his joy in beating Hollywood:

"We are all fans of 'Gravity,” but our 'Challenge' shot in actual weightlessness shows that was just CGI"

According to Ernst, the film cost less than a billion rubles ($12 million) to make.