Actor Tom Cruise recently scolded the crew on the set of Mission: Impossible 7 in Britain, as he noticed them not following the production’s strict COVID-19 protocols in place.
Sources close to production informed Variety of Tom Cruise’s lecturing of crew members, which included threats of firing if he saw certain behavior continue.
Cruise’s rant about following protocols on the set arrives after the movie’s production was delayed due to several crew members testing positive, and following a February delay for production in Italy.
Cruise heard yelling at MI7 crew in audio clip
While filming the new action and thriller film in the UK, Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise apparently witnessed two crew members standing too close to one another at a computer screen.
That led to the 58-year-old actor launching into a lecture about keeping things safe, telling them if he saw it happen again, “you’re f**king gone.”
“We are 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,” the actor said.
“I’m on the phone with every f**king studio at night, insurance companies, producers, and they’re looking at us and using us to make their movies. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf**kers. I don’t ever want to see it again. Ever!” Cruise said in the leaked audio clip via The Sun (below).
Cruise reportedly addressed 50 crew members at the Warner Bros. film complex in Leavesden, northwest of London. Per The Sun, the actor has been enforcing COVID-19 rules on set and has also been seen wearing a mask on the set regularly.
In a part of his rant towards the crew, Cruise said he was beyond taking any apologies and pointed out people are “losing their f**king homes” due to the industry getting shut down.
“We are not shutting this f**king movie down!” Cruise yelled while addressing the crew.
“Am I clear? Do you understand what I want? Do you understand the responsibility that I have? Because I will deal with your reason, and if you can’t be reasonable and I can’t deal with your logic, you’re fired. That’s it. That is it. I trust you guys to be here,” Cruise said.
Cruise’s previous film in the series, Mission: Impossible Fallout, first arrived in theaters back in July of 2018. The movie took in nearly $800 million worldwide during its release.
However, movies have faced a tougher situation in the current year as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced theaters to shut down. Many films have started to release directly to video streaming services or on-demand for viewers to consume at home.
That includes the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984, also filmed in Leavesden and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The DC Comics superhero sequel movie will be available on Christmas Day via the HBO Max platform.
Production was delayed in Italy several times
In February, Paramount Pictures had plans to begin filming Mission: Impossible 7 in Venice, Italy, but those plans were put on hold due to coronavirus.
The studio released a statement citing “efforts of the local Venetian government to halt public gatherings in response to the threat of coronavirus,” along with the health and safety of the film’s crew as part of the reasons they were delaying production at the time.
When production resumed in Italy this past October, 12 members of the crew on set tested positive for COVID-19, leading to another shutdown, per Variety’s report. However, the production resumed a week later. Just two weeks ago, production returned for filming in the United Kingdom.
The movie, which marks Cruise’s seventh film playing the role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt, has an expected release date of November 19, 2021.