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Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible 7 swap Italy for UK

By: Wanted in Rome

Date:

17 Mar, 2020

Italy's Coronavirus outbreak led to relocation of Tom Cruise blockbuster to England.

Mission: Impossible 7 and its Hollywood star Tom Cruise have said 'arrivederci' to Italy and relocated to the UK, reports the British media.

Production of the latest installment in the Mission: Impossible series came to a standstill three weeks ago in Venice, as filming coincided with the start of Italy's Coronavirus outbreak which has since been classed as a pandemic.

Filming is reportedly taking place at Longcross Studios in Surrey where the 57-year-old Cruise has been photographed by The Daily Mail carrying out his own stunts, as per usual, alongside actress Rebecca Ferguson.

Venice

The first leg of filming had been scheduled to begin in Venice on 24 February however due to the Coronavirus outbreak the three-week film shoot in Venice was halted.

Paramount Pictures explained that its measures were taken "out of an abundance of caution for the safety and well-being of our cast and crew, and efforts of the local Venetian government to halt public gatherings."

After Venice, filming was scheduled in Rome, for a period of around 40 days from mid-March, with open-air film sets and car chases expected in the centre of the capital.

Spanish Steps

Insiders say it is unlikely that the film crew will be sent back to Italy for the "foreseeable" future, however The Sun reports that the new set will feature a replica version of Rome’s Spanish Steps.

Mission: Impossible 7 is directed by Christopher McQuarrie and, in addition to Cruise and Ferguson, will star Nicholas Hoult and Hayley Atwell.

It is set for release on 23 July 2021 however it is not known if the halt on filming could delay this.

Tom Cruise and Italy

Cruise filmed scenes for Mission: Impossible 3 in Rome in 2005, returning a year later to marry actress Katie Holmes in a sumptuous wedding ceremony at the Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano.

When Cruise arrived in Rome to film the third installment of Mission: Impossible he and his entourage stayed in the Hotel Hassler, above the Spanish Steps. Cruise made headlines in Rome at the time for filming the unforgettable speedboat chase on the Tiber, which he did without stunt doubles.

Movies in Rome

In recent years there have been a string of international productions filmed in Rome, such as Zoolander 2, To Rome with Love by Woody Allen and of course, the James Bond movie Spectre with Daniel Craig in 2014.

Movies filmed in Rome during the previous decade include Angels and Demons with Tom Hanks, The Talented Mr Ripley with Matt Damon, Eat Pray Love with Julia Roberts, and Gangs of New York with Leonardo DiCaprio in 2000.