6 months after Tom Cruise threatened to fire crew members of 'Mission Impossible 7' for breaking COVID-19 safety rules, at least one person has tested positive and filming has halted
- "Mission Impossible 7" filming has halted after at least worker tested positive for COVID-19.
- The Hollywood Reporter says production is shut down for 14 days while people self-isolate.
- In December, leaked audio showed Cruise yelling at crew members for breaking safety protocol.
"Mission Impossible 7" is temporarily halting production after at least one member of the crew tested positive for COVID-19, according to The Hollywood Reporter (THR).
"We have temporarily halted production on 'Mission: Impossible 7' until June 14th, due to positive coronavirus test results during routine testing. We are following all safety protocols and will continue to monitor the situation," the production told THR in a statement.
The movie has been in production since before the COVID-19 pandemic first hit in early 2020. Filming had to pause as movie and TV sets around the world were shut down in the early months of the virus's spread. When production resumed in September 2020, the set was under safety protocols.
In December 2020, British newspaper The Sun published an audio recording of Tom Cruise angrily admonishing the production crew on the "Mission: Impossible 7" set.
"He flew into a rage after spotting two of the crew standing within 2 meters of each other," The Sun reported.
"And if you don't do it, you're fired," he says in the audio. "I see you do it again, you're f---ing gone."
He seemingly goes on to point out several other people, making his point clear to a larger group. "No apologies," Cruise says. "You can tell it to the people that are losing their f---ing homes because our industry is shut down. It's not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education."
At one point, his voice raises even higher as he says, "We are not shutting this f---ing movie down!"
In May 2020, Cruise spoke with Empire Magazine about the leaked audio, standing by his words. He also clarified that he had asked most crew members to leave the set so he could address "select people" for their behavior.
"I said what I said," Cruise told Empire, according to the LA Times. "There was a lot at stake at that point."
"Mission: Impossible 7" was originally scheduled to be released on July 23, 2021. Now the movie is slated for a premiere date of May 27, 2022.
Representative for Cruise and Skydance Production Studios could not immediately be reached for comment.