“Mission: Impossible 7” holds the distinction of being the first major Hollywood production to be halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was scheduled to begin work in Italy when the country’s outbreak occurred in late-February/early-March. And since then, filming has stayed suspended, as the filmmakers looked for the go-ahead from the government, as well as the studio to begin again. It appears that we now have a timeline for when Tom Cruise, director Christopher McQuarrie, and the rest of the “Mission: Impossible” crew will be getting back to work.
READ MORE: Esai Morales Replacing Nicholas Hoult As The Villain In ‘Mission: Impossible 7’
Speaking to Variety, actor Simon Pegg, who plays Ethan Hunt’s teammate Benji in the franchise, explained how they expect to begin production again in September. And to ensure that production can get going in the fall, it appears that the filmmakers are working on a different way of organizing the shoot, starting with specific scenes that would be easier to regulate.
“That will begin with the outdoor stuff,” said Pegg. “That feels fairly doable, and obviously there will be precautions put in place.”
As for the other scenes, such as fighting and stuntwork that requires people to be in close proximity, the actor isn’t quite sure how that’s going to happen or what the precautions will look like.
“People that are involved in any close proximity stuff, it will have to be determined that they’re safe to do that,” he explained. “I don’t know what the testing situation is, how that works, or whether they’ll be able to be tested regularly.”
The plan for a September restart was confirmed by first assistant director Tommy Gormley, who spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Today program about “Mission: Impossible 7.”
“We hope to restart in September,” said Gormley. “We hope to visit all the countries we planned to. We hope to do a big chunk of it back in the UK on the backlot and in the studio.”
The filmmaker added that the new timeline for production seems to be extended from September to sometime in April or May of 2021.
Paramount has already delayed the release of the newest ‘M:I’ sequel, as well as the eighth film that is also expected to shoot back-to-back with the new one. As of now, “Mission: Impossible 7” is expected to arrive in theaters on November 19, 2021.