Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible 7” has set a September target date to resume filming following a nearly five-month hiatus.
The action-thriller was just days away from beginning production in Venice, Italy, when the coronavirus pandemic paused all production as the country went into lockdown.
Simon Pegg, who plays Benji in the franchise, says the outdoor scenes will begin first, telling Variety it “feels fairly doable, and obviously there will be precautions put in place.
“People that are involved in any close proximity stuff, it will have to be determined that they’re safe to do that. I don’t know what the testing situation is, how that works, or whether they’ll be able to be tested regularly,” Pegg explains.
First assistant director Tommy Gormley tells BBC 4’s Today radio show he is “convinced” the franchise can begin filming again within the next three months, following the publication of the British Film Commission’s new public safety protocols.
“We hope to start shooting again in September. We were days from shooting in Venice — we were right at the epicenter when it all kicked off — so we had to shut down in Venice where we were four or five days from shooting,” he says.
“We hope to restart in September, we hope to visit all the countries we planned to and look to do a big chunk of it back in the U.K. on the backlot and in the studio, so September through to end April/May is our targets. We are convinced we can do this,” he adds.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, “M:I 7” has a number of international filming locations that Gormley is convinced will be accessible albeit with adjustments. Acknowledging the giant crew involved and new challenges facing the production, he believes it is possible if “we break down all the procedures very carefully.”
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“We have to get back to work for every person in the film industry, tens of thousands of us, we have to get back to work. We have to do it safely and protect our colleagues, but it is definitely possible and we’re working flat out to make it happen,” Gormley says.
“Mission: Impossible 7” is the second major film to begin making plans to resume production. On Sunday, “Avatar” director James Cameron arrived in New Zealand to begin a 14-day quarantine so production could start again on the sci-fi fantasy sequels.
Pushed from its original July 2021 release date, “Mission: Impossible 7” is currently scheduled to arrive in theatres on November 19, 2021.
