‘Mission: Impossible 6’: Tom Cruise injury may require production delay
Tom Cruise may be sidelined for up to three months after injury on set of latest 'Mission: Impossible' movie (Photo: Paramount)
Mission: Impossible 6 will likely halt production in London for from six weeks to three months to give Tom Cruise time to recover from an on-set injury, according to four people with knowledge of the situation. The actor hurt himself doing stunt work for the film last weekend. The extent of his injuries are still unclear, but one individual close to the production said that Cruise may have broken his ankle in two places and hurt his hip. He was scheduled to see his doctor this week, said sources close to the production, after which Paramount, the studio behind the film, will determine how long shooting will be delayed. The London crew is waiting to hear word on the actor’s diagnosis.
One person affiliated with the film suggested that the production could still wrap on time if the focus is put on post-production elements of the film and leave scenes with Cruise for the end of the shoot. Paramount is planning a July 27, 2018, release of the movie. At this point, it’s not known whether that date will have to be pushed back to accommodate any delay in filming.
But any production stoppage could cause headaches for other cast members such as Simon Pegg, Henry Cavill, and Rebecca Ferguson. Many of these actors are also slated to start filming other projects as soon as Mission: Impossible 6 wraps in the fall. Paramount is also concerned that any delay could also negatively impact the release and filming of Cruise’s Top Gun sequel, which is set to premiere in July 2019. Both films are being co-financed by David Ellison’s Skydance Media.
TMZ released video Sunday morning of the actor attempting a leap across a building gap, only to fall short, smack into the wall, and walk away with a limp. In the clip, Cruise, attached to a pulley system, can be seen limping after coming up short on his jump. After pulling himself onto the platform that he slammed into, the actor attempts to run, but stumbles. The crew then uses the pulley system to pull him back to the first platform, where they assist the actor off-camera.
Cruise has long prided himself in doing his own stunts, even defying studio bosses and insurance companies in order to give his film’s signature set pieces a greater realism. For his recent reboot of The Mummy, the actor did 64 takes of a plane crash sequence in zero gravity, and for the fourth and fifth Mission: Impossible films he hung off the Burj Khalifa and clung to the wing of a moving plane.
A spokesperson for Paramount declined to comment. A representative for Cruise did not respond to a request for comment.
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