Tom Cruise Back to Work on Mission: Impossible 7 After Latest Coronavirus Shutdown

Tom Cruise is returning as Ethan Hunt at lease two more times as Christopher McQuarrie is set to direct the seventh and eighth installments in the Mission: Impossible franchise. The production has seen some hiccups from having to shut down after a stunt went wrong to receiving criticism in Norway for using cruise ships. Like so many film sets, Mission: Impossible 7 has been affected by the pandemic. According to Daily Mail, the production seems to be back on track after Cruise was spotted rehearsing with a stuntman while wearing a face mask. You can check out a photo here.

Apparently, the film's production was put on hold for five months before relocating to Norway from the UK. Last month, director and writer Christopher McQuarrie addressed what he said was "inaccurate" about a bridge explosion stunt for the film that would feature the demotion of the more than 100-year-old Pilchowicki bridge in Poland. Needless to say, the production has had some bumps along the way.

McQuarrie will film Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 back-to-back for studio Paramount, each planned for July 2021 and August 2022, respectively. Rebecca Ferguson is expected to return for the sequels alongside star/producer Cruise as well as franchise veterans Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg. The new movies will also feature Agent Carter star, Hayley Atwell.

Back in January, Fergeson spoke about the upcoming movies.

"I'm not shocked that Chris would do it," Ferguson told THR. "Both Tom and Chris are very close, but I also know what kind of discussions go on. It's a big thing to throw yourself into and accept another however long the shoot would be. There are rewards and repercussions that come with it. We'll see what happens to Ilsa because it's not written. We don't really know yet what's going to happen. All I can do is keep calling him to say, 'Don't throw me out of an airplane. Don't lock me inside a box.' So, we'll see."

In January, a report from THR claimed McQuarrie was "said to be considering" bringing back Alec Baldwin's Impossible Mission Force secretary Alan Hunley and Henry Cavill's rogue CIA agent August Walker via flashbacks after both characters were killed in 2018's Mission: Impossible — Fallout. Story details remain under wraps, but McQuarrie once said he possesses a "very, very, very long list" of actors he hopes to recruit to the franchise.

For now, Paramount has dated its pair of untitled Mission: Impossible sequels for July 23, 2021, and August 5, 2022.