On Tuesday night, audio surfaced of Tom Cruise yelling at crew members on the Mission: Impossible 7 set for allegedly not following health and safety protocols. Like so many movies currently in production, the next installment in the blockbuster spy franchise has had to institute numerous measures in order to keep filming during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Cruise declared in a profanity-laced tirade that anyone seen ignoring these measures would be fired. Now word’s come in that Cruise’s outburst particularly hasn’t gone over well with some members of the Mission: Impossible 7 crew.
According to The Sun, which originally shared the Tom Cruise audio, there was another “eruption” on the Mission: Impossible 7 after the first tirade was reported on, and five crew members have since quit. According to an unnamed source that spoke with the publication, following the initial outburst, which came after tension had been building for months, “there has been more anger,” resulting in staff members exiting the production. The source also said that Cruise is “upset others aren’t taking it as seriously as him,” with him being the one who “carries the can.”
Tom Cruise’s first eruption on the Mission: Impossible 7 set at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden allegedly occurred after he spotted two crew members standing within two meters of each other. Reportedly 50 people were nearby when Cruise was expressing his frustration, and two people were supposedly seen standing less than one meter away from each other at a computer screen. In the aftermath of this incident, the internet has had a field day with Cruise’s speech, while fellow actor George Clooney said that although he understood why Cruise got upset, he wouldn’t have “done it that big” had he been in a similar position.
Originally set to begin filming in late February, Mission: Impossible 7 has been rolling cameras on and off in various countries since July, with director/co-writer Christopher McQuarrie announcing at the beginning of September that the main principal photography period had kicked off. These delays, plus the fact that Mission: Impossible 7 is shooting back-to-back with Mission: Impossible 8, means the production will last longer than the average blockbuster-making process. Tom Cruise returned to shoot new scenes in the United Kingdom two weeks ago.
The man who’s brought Ethan Hunt to life for nearly two and a half decades, has certainly been taking the pandemic seriously as Mission: Impossible 7 chugs along. Not only has he been pictured wearing a mask on the set, but he paid around £500,000 (close to $672,000) to rent a cruise ship for the cast and crew to stay in while they were in Norway. However, like other major productions (such as The Batman), implementing these extra precautions hasn’t kept Mission: Impossible 7 entirely safe from COVID-19. In October, 12 people tested positive for the disease in Italy, leading Cruise to have “crisis talks” with Christopher McQuarrie.
Plot details for Mission: Impossible 7 are still being kept close to the chest, but the main cast has come together nicely. Along with Tom Cruise back in action as Ethan Hunt, the familiar faces include Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell, Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn, Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust, Vanessa Kirby’s Alanna Mitsopolis, Angela Bassett’s Erika Sloane and Henry Czerny’s Eugene Kittridge. The newcomers include Esai Morales as the main villain, Hayley Atwell playing a character described as a “destructive force of nature,” Shea Whigham and Pom Klementieff.
Mission: Impossible 7 is slated to drop on November 19, 2021, and Mission: Impossible 8 will follow on November 4, 2022. Keep track of other movies on the way in the near future with our 2021 release schedule.
