The UK shoot of Mission: Impossible 7 is pausing after a member of the production tested positive for Covid.
The shoot will stop for 14 days. Safety protocols are being followed, with those impacted reportedly self-isolating. In the UK, 39% of the population is fully vaccinated. By comparison, in L.A. have 51% of the population is fully vaccinated.
“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,” said a spokesperson for Paramount on Thursday afternoon.
The seventh installment of the Tom Cruise franchise was impacted by Covid early on during its shoot in February 2020 when lockdowns occurred in Italy. In December, audio leaked from the set of Cruise’s yelling at the crew after they violated Covid production precautions. Cruise, also the film’s producer, helped develop the protocols meant to get the film through production that spanned from Italy to Norway and London. Cruise told the crew that if their behavior was repeated, those caught would be fired. The three-time Oscar nominee told them at the time that the motion picture industry is hurting, and that with most of it shut down, people are losing their homes as a result.
The pic, which is co-produced by Skydance, hits movie theaters over Memorial Day weekend 2022, on May 27. Mission: Impossible 7 is an enormous theatrical tentpole, of course, for Paramount in a franchise that has grossed more than $3.57 billion through six movies.
The studio came roaring back at the box office over this past Memorial Day weekend with A Quiet Place Part II, lifting the domestic box office from its doldrums. To date, the John Krasinski-directed sequel has made $65.2 million stateside through six days, near the pacing of the original 2018 film over the same frame.