It turns out that not even the rage of Tom Cruise was enough to keep “Mission: Impossible 7” from being shut down.
In a statement on Thursday, a Paramount spokesperson said production for the spy franchise sequel was halted after positive COVID-19 test results.
“We have temporarily halted production on ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ until June 14th, due to positive coronavirus test results during routine testing,” the spokesperson said, as reported by Fox News. “We are following all safety protocols and will continue to monitor the situation.”
The spokesperson did not specify how many people tested positive for the virus.
The Sun reports that Tom Cruise has gone into self-isolation and is “absolutely fuming about what’s happened, especially given his rant to his staff last year.”
“It’s going to badly affect filming and they’ll be playing catch-up when they finally come back,” an insider close to the situation said.
In December of last year, while filming the movie, audio was released of Tom Cruise excoriating members of his crew for not practicing strict COVID-19 safety protocols.
“If I see you do it again, you’re f**king 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**king do it again,” he reportedly said. “They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf**kers.”
“That’s it. No apologies. You can tell it to the people that are losing their f***ing homes because our industry is shut down,” he shouted.
Speaking with Empire Magazine six months later, Cruise clarified that he was not yelling at the entire movie crew — only a select few people.
“I said what I said,” Cruise told the outlet. “There was a lot at stake at that point. But it wasn’t my entire crew. I had the crew leave the set, and it was just select people.”
Unaware of what would happen just a few weeks later, Cruise noted that filming was “never shut down again.”
“All those emotions were going through my mind,” he said. “I was thinking about the people I work with, and my industry. And for the whole crew to know that we’d started rolling on a movie was just a huge relief. It was very emotional, I gotta tell you.”
While celebrities from Whoopi Goldberg to George Clooney defended Cruise’s rant, actress and famed Scientologist defector Leah Remini claimed they had all been duped by a publicity stunt. Writing in the anti-Scientology blog The Underground Bunker, Remini called Cruise’s tirade a “psychotic rant” from an “abusive person.”
“Tom does not care about the families of his crew; this is all for publicity,” Remini wrote. “Tom does not believe in family values. I mean, how anyone is falling for this is just mind-blowing. I would bet that Tom had this rant written for him and had his Scientology assistant record and release it. Hearing a rich actor with enormous power address his crew in this way is a sign of weakness and a deeply troubled person.”
Related: Tom Cruise Breaks Silence On Famed ‘Mission: Impossible’ COVID Rant: ‘I Said What I Said’