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Studio Paramount, director Christopher McQuarrie and star Tom Cruise have long since abandoned plans to shoot Mission: Impossible 7 back-to-back with the eighth installment, but that hasn’t done anything to stop the latest chapter in the long-running blockbuster franchise gaining a reputation as perhaps the single most tortured production of the pandemic era.
It’s been sixteen months since the first frame of footage was shot, but the cast and crew still aren’t done yet. Throughout that time, the return of Ethan Hunt has touched down in Italy, Poland, Norway and the Middle East, and faced several shutdowns as a result of COVID-19, including the actor’s infamous rant at a couple of crew members caught breaking health and safety protocols.
In April, the final leg of filming began as Mission: Impossible 7 returned to England for a second time, but a couple of weeks ago things ground to a halt again when fourteen positive Coronavirus tests were recorded. However, a new rumor that reportedly hails from someone with inside knowledge of the production potentially lays the blame at Cruise’s door, as you can read below.
“Filming on Mission Impossible 7 is on hold again because of coronavirus. And this time, those working on the production have said they think Tom could be the possible cause of the postponement. Everyone on the set was told that filming was being stopped again because of a positive test. And since then, Tom hasn’t been on set once. Now people are speculating that he could have come into contact with the person who tested positive. And in some cases, people are even gossiping and saying it could be him.”
We should point out that not only is the source of the original story a British tabloid, but it contradicts previous information from exactly the same outlet that posited the leading man was fuming after having to grind Mission: Impossible 7 to a halt once again. It would admittedly be hugely ironic were Cruise to be a close contact given his explosive reactions in the past, but at this stage everyone involved is surely desperate to finally get over the finish line after the constant setbacks to have befallen the espionage actioner over the last year.
The modern age of cinema where name value and audience recognition is king above all else means that no marketable property is ever truly over, and even when a movie is touted as being the final installment of a particular series, nobody really tends to believe it. So it’s hardly a shock to discover that James DeMonaco has confirmed he’s already started working on a sixth entry in The Purge franchise.
The filmmaker has written all five installments to date, as well as directing the first three, but there was a brief period of time when next week’s The Forever Purge was being touted as the grand finale. However, we’re also talking about a brand that’s brought in $446 million at the box office on combined production costs of just $35 million and spawned a TV spinoff that ran for two seasons, so the end hardly felt truly nigh.
In fact, Frank Grillo revealed earlier this year that he’d spoken to DeMonaco about a potential return to the fold for a sixth outing having starred in the second and third films, so movement was clearly happening behind the scenes. In a new interview, DeMonaco admitted that he was planning on The Forever Purge to mark the end of the line, before he was struck with a sudden burst of inspiration.
Between you and I, man, I really intended for this to be the last one, up until 4 months ago when I woke up and had an idea for six. I had this idea, I can flip this thing upside down and we can continue this, maybe, in a way that people can enjoy. I’m actually outlining it right now in between these interviews. If the Movie Gods say, ‘People want to see it’, then we’ll do it. But I always leave it to the audience to tell us if they want more of it. But we’re ready. I have another one if they want it.”
The Purge has never had to do much in the way of box office legwork in order to become profitable, and should the latest chapter fare well by the standards of the COVID-19 era, then Blumhouse and Universal will no doubt be on the phone to DeMonaco shortly afterwards to see how he’s getting on with that idea of his.