Tom Cruise Taking Early Vacation From Mission: Impossible 7 After COVID Rant Controversy

Tom Cruise is taking his holiday break early, as the superstar actor is now reportedly leaving the set of Mission: Impossible 7, to fly to Miami on a private jet, along with his son Connor. Thttps://www.tmz.com/2020/12/18/tom-cruise-early-christmas-break-mission-impossible-production-shut-down-covid-rant-tirade/MZ reports that production on Mission: Impossible 7 is shut down while Cruise is away, presumably to allow tensions between the crew and Cruise to settle a bit over the Christmas and New Year holidays. It's been a bad week for the Mission: Impossible 7 team: a controversial audio leak of Cruise berating two crew members for breaking COVID protocols has led to several M:I7 crew members quitting the production in protest.

The Sun was the first to leak the now-infamous Tom Cruise audio leak, in which the star is heard furiously hurling expletive-laden condemnation at two crew members, who apparently broke social distancing rules while working. Cruise's rant focused on the larger view of Mission: Impossible 7's production means to the industry and theaters during this unprecedented time of COVID:

"We want the gold standard. They're back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us! Because they believe in us and what we're doing!I'm on the phone with every f***ing studio at night, insurance companies, producers, and they're looking at us and using us to make their movies," Cruise said. "We are creating thousands of jobs you motherf***ers... You can tell it to the people that are losing their f***ing homes because our industry is shut down. It's not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education. That's what I sleep with every night. The future of this f***ing industry!... Movies are going because of us. If we shut down it's going to cost people f***ing jobs, their home, their family. That's what's happening. All the way down the line."

Cruise made his point crystal-clear by telling Mission: Impossible 7 crew members that further violations of COVID-19 protocols will be a zero-tolerance policy: "I don't ever want to see it again, ever! And if you don't do it you're fired, if I see you do it again you're f***ing gone. 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. That's it! No apologies..."

After the Cruise audio leak went viral, there has been a major backlash on set. As one source told the Toronto Sun: "The first outburst was big but things haven't calmed since. Tension has been building for months and this was the final straw. Since it became public there has been more anger and several staff have walked. But Tom just can't take any more after all the lengths they have gone to just to keep filming at all. He's upset others aren't taking it as seriously as him. In the end, he's the one who carries the can."

Mission: Impossible 7 is set to hit theaters on November 19, 2021. Hopefully it can still make it to that date.