Mission: Impossible 7 was one of the first major movies to delay production due to the global pandemic as filming was set to begin in Italy, one of the first countries to be hit hard by the virus. While Italy is now fairing better than many other nations, there's no specific plan to restart production of the film at this point, which has reportedly caused Nicholas Hoult, who was apparently set to play a villain in the film, to have to pull out of the role. He is going to be replaced by Esai Morales.
According to Deadline, the delay in production on Mission: Impossible 7 has put Nicholas Hoult's schedule in conflict with another project he's set to appear in, which has forced him to pull out of the next Tom Cruise action spectacular.
In the same way that Mission: Impossible 7 was one of the first big movies to close down production, it seems likely that Nicholas Hoult pulling out of the movie will be one of the first of many incidents of this happening as well. There will be a lot of other actors who were scheduled to work on movies this fall because the movie they were planning to be in this spring and summer was expected to be complete, but instead has yet to even begin.
In some cases this could mean seeing production on one movie or another delayed entirely if they're willing to wait for a particular actor. Otherwise, it will mean a shuffling of talent as actors get replaced by those who are available. Key crew members like directors will likely also be impacted.
Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 are set to be filmed back-to-back. Originally, they were to be released in the summer of 2021 and 2022, but due to the production delay both movies have now been rescheduled for November releases, though in the same years.
The fact that this production was actually going to cover two movies perhaps makes the situation all the more unfortunate for Nicholas Hoult. It's possible that he's now needing to pull out of not one movie but two. Not much was known about how the X-Men actor would fit into the story, and this is the first we're hearing the role he was playing was going to be a villain, but it's possible the role could have crossed both movies.
Director Christopher McQuarrie reacted to the news with an ominous, yet very on brand, statement.
As Hollywood gets back underway we're going to see a lot of shuffling of talent, crews, and release dates as the industry tries to get everything back on track. It's going to likely mean a lot of movies looking somewhat different than we may have expected, but sometimes that can also mean happy accidents. Maybe the perfect choice for a role is actually the person who gets the gig after the first actor had to bow out.
