Mission Impossible becomes an impossible mission as ‘filming in the UAE is ABANDONED due to the pandemic and crew are sent home’
Filming for Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible has been cancelled in the Middle East due to the pandemic, with cast and crew forced to fly home, it was reported on Friday.
It is alleged that production staff working on the seventh installment have ‘demanded’ to return to the UK before mandatory 10-day hotel quarantine rules are enforced.
From Monday, people jetting into the UK from 33 ‘red list’ countries, have to pay a £1,750 fee for their hotel stay, resulting in a ‘revolt’ by the film’s crew who feared a delay in returning to their families.
Yikes: Filming for Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible has been cancelled in the Middle East due to the pandemic, with cast and crew forced to fly home, it was reported on Friday
The Sun reported that studio executives were forced to hire a private jet to ensure staff could return home.
A source said to the publication: ‘The whole production has hit yet another issue and there have been revolts among the cast and crew.
‘For quite a few of them, the prospect of having to quarantine in a hotel back in the UK is a step too far and they’ve demanded to be flown home before the rules change. The studio has had to fund a jet back and the missing cast and crew will inevitably cause another delay.
‘Morale is really down and many of the younger staff who aren’t earning the big bucks just don’t feel it’s worth it any more.’
Another setback: It is alleged that production staff working on the seventh installment have ‘demanded’ to return to the UK before mandatory 10-day hotel quarantine rules are enforced
Filming is now expected to resume in England, the latest change in a long list of setbacks dating back to last year.
MailOnline have contacted Tom’s representatives and Universal Pictures for further comment.
Crew first began shooting scenes in February in 2020, a few weeks prior to the first global lockdown.
Another source said that star Tom, 58, is adamant filming will be completed in time for Mission Impossible’s planned release date of November 2021.
It comes amid reports that Tom has built a COVID-19 secure studio to complete his upcoming blockbuster.
Protest: From Monday, people jetting into the UK from 33 ‘red list’ countries, have to pay a £1,750 fee for their hotel stay, resulting in a ‘revolt’ by the film’s crew who feared a delay in returning to their families
According to another report in The Sun, the actor is spending millions to adapt a former military base for filming to ensure the rest of the production goes off without a hitch.
Production was thought to be moving to a former tank design base in Longcross in Surrey from Leavesden in Hertfordshire.
It comes after claims that five crew members ‘quit’ after the actor ‘launched into a second rant’ following his fury about staff breaking COVID rules.
The actor is said to have given staff a dressing down after he caught them breaking UK COVID-19 rules at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden.
A source claimed after news of the first outburst was made public that there has been ‘more anger’ at the already ‘tense’ production.
It was also previously reported that the star scolded workers who flouted social distancing rules while filming at Warner Bros. Studios.
Invoking the no-nonsense attitude of his character, Ethan Hunt, the actor is said to have told them: ‘If I see you doing it again, you’re f***ing gone’.
The paper said the dressing down was recorded on an audio tape, in which he is heard to add: ‘And if anyone in this crew does it, that’s it — and you too and you too.
‘And you, don’t you ever f***ing do it again. We are not shutting this f***ing movie down.’
The American actor was reportedly angered after seeing the pair stood less than a metre away from each other at a computer screen.
Back to business: Filming is now expected to resume in England, the latest change in a long list of setbacks dating back to last year