Paramount Pictures(LONDON) — Tom Cruise and Paramount are apparently sparing no expense to get the COVID-19-delayed Mission: Impossible 7 movie back on track — including transforming an old British military base into an isolated community for cast and crew.
The Sun reports the abandoned RAF site in Oxfordshire will shelter the movie’s cast, who will reportedly be staying in VIP trailers and interacting only with each other so they can rehearse without fear of outside contamination from the virus.
A source tells the publication, “The film has already been heavily delayed and there’s no sign of things going totally back to normal any time soon, so this is a way to try to get things up and moving again quickly and safely.”
Production had begun in February in Venice, Italy, until the virus began to take hold. A hasty retreat to Rome proved short-lived, and production was soon shuttered altogether.
The move to the U.K. airbase has another advantage, according to the insider, who claims, “It’s also tough to get hotel rooms at the moment as most of them are shut for the foreseeable future, so it was this or delay things for even longer. It will mean some of the world’s biggest stars all living together in a posh campsite while working alongside the rest of the team.”
Mission: Impossible 7 reunites Cruise’s Ethan Hunt with returning players Vanessa Kirby, Ving Rhames, Angela Bassett, Simon Pegg and Henry Czerny, with series newcomers Esai Morales and Marvel movie alumna Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff.
The source adds, “It’s pricey but Tom always does things bigger and better than anyone, and there’s a hell of a lot riding on this film.”
Mission: Impossible 7 production is expected to resume in September.
By Stephen Iervolino
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