In what feels like ages ago, Mission: Impossible 7 was one of the first major films to shut down production all the way back in February. The seventh installment in the hit espionage series starring Tom Cruise had just started filming in Italy right as that country found itself on the forefront of COVID-19 infections, making it undeniably clear that the world was on the verge of a global pandemic. Five months later, Mission: Impossible 7 still hasn’t resumed production, but not without lack of trying.
Over the weekend, Cruise personally called Norway’s culture minister Abid Raja in hopes of resuming production in the scenic country that was also the backdrop for the climactic ending to Mission: Impossible – Fallout. Raja was reportedly receptive to Cruise’s call, and he hopes to bring the actor and his spy series back to Norway. However, the culture minister cautioned that even Tom Cruise will still have to contend with coronavirus restrictions, which could hamper efforts to resume filming quickly. Via Deadline:
“The coronavirus means that at the moment it is not possible to come to Norway in the same way as before,” [Raja] said. “We will have to discuss this in the government and make regulations for it before we give permission to film in Norway. We will abide by the rules and coronavirus restrictions. I will take my conversation with Cruise to the government.”
Of course, Cruise’s intense commitment to making the Mission: Impossible film happen shouldn’t come as a surprise. The actor has displayed an almost suicidal dedication to making every action scene memorable by scaling nauseatingly high buildings or hanging from the wing of a plane in the middle of a take-off. That intensity dates all the way back to Mission: Impossible 2, which recently made headlines after Thandie Newton revealed that Cruise puts himself under so much pressure that she watched him grow a stress pimple in a matter of minutes.
“I was so scared of Tom. He was a very dominant individual,” Newton told Vulture. “He tries super hard to be a nice person. But the pressure. He takes on a lot. And I think he has this sense that only he can do everything as best as it can be done.”
As the old saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself. Although, we’re not sure if that implies to international diplomacy, but Tom Cruise is sure as heck gonna try.
(Via Deadline)