Tom Cruise will resume shooting Mission: Impossible 7 in September (20) following a forced hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the film’s first assistant director.
Production on the movie was shut down in Italy in February, as the European nation emerged as one of the epicenters of the pandemic, with plans to shift production to London also scuppered when the U.K. also had to impose a lockdown due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Tuesday (June 2, 2020), Tommy Gormley, first assistant director to helmer Christopher McQuarrie, said the cast and crew plan to start shooting in the autumn – and won’t alter any locations.
“We hope to restart in September,” he revealed. “We hope to visit all the countries we planned to. We hope to do a big chunk of it back in the U.K. on the backlot and in the studio.”
Gormley went on to assert that he is “convinced” that the Paramount production could be finished by May at the latest and ready for its November 2021 release date with time to spare.
Cast and crew, including Cruise, who plays superspy Ethan Hunt in the hit franchise, were in Venice, Italy waiting to shoot scenes when they had to leave the country as it imposed a stringent lockdown due to a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Gormley went on to say that troublesome location shoots or stunt set-pieces would not be moved, shelved, or rendered with CGI due to the difficulties posed by the pandemic.
“This is our challenge,” he added. “We are not a chamber piece movie. We do spectacle, and that is what people expect of us.”
Film and TV productions in the U.K. are now getting up and running again as the country eases its lockdown, with some resuming as early as next week, albeit with strict social distancing regulations.
