After the box office and critical success of “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” Paramount was quick to sign up filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie and star Tom Cruise for two more sequels, with the caveat that both the seventh and eighth films in the franchise would film back-to-back. All seemed to be going swimmingly until a little thing called COVID happened and derailed the entire industry’s plans. Now, it appears that Paramount has to figure out how to fit in a Tom Cruise break in between productions.
According to Deadline, Paramount is now planning on breaking up the productions of “Mission: Impossible 7” and “Mission: Impossible 8” because COVID delays have no made it so Tom Cruise has a stacked schedule that forces him away from the franchise for a little bit of time. All that to say, Tom Cruise may have defied aging, but he has yet to figure out cloning. Thus, he can’t be in multiple places at once, so the studio has to pump the ‘M:I’ brakes for a short time.
The big issue seems to stem from the combined delays of filming in the “Mission: Impossible” world, as well as the delayed release of Paramount’s upcoming “Top Gun: Maverick.” With the highly-anticipated “Top Gun” sequel scheduled (for now) to be released this summer, Cruise can’t possibly do the publicity associated with making sure that film is a huge hit while also filming the eighth film in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. So, Paramount has decided to build in a break in his schedule to make sure he can do both.
Obviously, the whole idea behind filming both “Mission: Impossible” sequels back-to-back seemed to be so they could rush out these films and make sure Tom Cruise is able to capitalize on the ‘Fallout’ goodwill and strike while the iron’s hot, so to speak. Plus, the man isn’t getting any younger. But with COVID delaying everything by more than a year, it’s now less of a rush and more about making sure these films get made safely and within reason.
Of course, just taking a break to do “Top Gun” publicity isn’t any sign of trouble for “Mission: Impossible 8.” It’s just the reality of the situation. No word, yet, about how this might affect his SpaceX/Doug Liman $200 million blockbuster that he also has on schedule.
