'Mission: Impossible 7' Will Resume Filming In September, Outdoor Scenes To Be Shot First
Shooting was shut down earlier this year due to COVID-19.
The new Mission: Impossible 7 is set to start shooting again in September, as first reported by Variety. The film shut down production earlier this year due to COVID-19. Outdoor scenes will be shot first.
The movie's first assistant director Tommy Gormley confirmed the restart plan BBC Radio 4's Today program on Tuesday morning: "We hope to restart in September. We hope to visit all the countries we planned too. We hope to do a big chunk of it back in the U.K. on the backlot and in the studio."
When asked about shooting a major action film in this current climate, Gormley said, "This is our challenge. We are not a chamber piece movie. We do a spectacle, and that is what people expect of us.
"If we have the protocols in place and we break down all the procedures very carefully...we will get it going again. Some times things are very challenging such as stunt scenes, crows scenes, etc. but we can't do a Mission: Impossible movie and not have a fight scene or car scenes in it."
Gormley also recalled working on a Star Trek shoot several years ago where filming took place in a large brewery. The entire crew had to wear goggles, ear protection, and gloves - similar to the current PPE kit required to protect against coronavirus.
Because we were in a food factory, that's what we did and we didn't thing twice about it...We are incredibly agile and we're used to working in the most extreme situations in the most extreme locations. We can basically tackle anything if we prepare it carefully enough."
After the British Film Commission published its guidelines for safe production of film and television, Gormley stated that the new plan was "excellent," adding: "We have to go back to work for every person in the film industry, tens of thousands of people...we have to do it safely and we have to protect our colleagues.
Back in February, production was halted on M:I 7 just a few days before shooting was scheduled to begin in Venice, Italy. The country was considered to be where the highest concentration of coronavirus cases were reported in Europe at the time.
The new Mission: Impossible film makes the franchise one of the longest-running in movie history. The last installment Mission: Impossible - Fallout was released in 2018. It was directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who returned after helming M:I - Rogue Nation in 2015. The film hauled in $791 million at the global box office against a $178 million budget, making it the highest-grossing film in the M:I franchise, according to Box Office Mojo.
If M:I 7 indeed does resume production in the fall, it will certainly set new industry protocol for making movies as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hopefully subside.