Shooting any film during the pandemic has been a challenge, but it sounds like “Mission: Impossible 7” has taken the cake. Despite Tom Cruise’s viral outburst chastising crew members, it doesn’t look like the brass were taking COVID-19 safety seriously enough on the shoot. An in-depth piece from The Hollywood Reporter has revealed some shocking details about the rough production that eventually resumed during the heat of the pandemic in multiple countries including The United Kingdom, Norway, Italy, and Abu Dhabi.
The big standout in the sourced article is the claim that there were lax COVID-19 protocols, with both Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie contracting the virus during the production, as there were multiple outbreaks on the set. Even scarier is that McQuarrie had to be hospitalized in London due to severe illness.
Cruise was stricken with a mystery illness in London in February 2020, around the time the Venice shoot was shut down, marking the first of many production pauses as COVID was spreading all over Europe.
An outbreak during the Abu Dhabi shoot in June 2021, leading to 14 people testing positive, is said to have infected McQuarrie, Cruise, and some of Cruise’s family members. Neither of the star or director were vaccinated when they got sick. The Hollywood Reporter is quick to dispel the idea that Cruise’s Scientology links had anything to do with his vaccination status.
These details come after an audiotape leaked to the public of Cruise threatening to fire crew members for not taking COVID protocols seriously enough. The report paints a picture of repeated corners being cut, including not observing quarantine requirements which might have led to executive producer Jake Myers exiting the film as he was being blamed for the chaos.
After spending two years of filming, the project’s budget has reportedly ballooned to $290 million which is a lot when you consider “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” cost Paramount $180 million. It’s likely a combination of the extended shoot and added costs of the fantastical in-camera action sequences, including crashing a train off a cliff.
“Mission: Impossible 8” still has to shoot and it’ll be shocking if it has a similar sticker price.