The Tom Cruise action movies Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 were expected to film back-to-back but film studio Paramount has changed plans and will now shoot the sequel later.
Mission: Impossible 7 is wrapping up its shoot now, but Cruise has obligations to do press for Top Gun: Maverick, so he will be unavailable to film Mission: Impossible 8 until later, according to Deadline's sources. The gap shouldn't be too significant, however, the report said.
Director Christopher McQuarrie recently said on Instagram that Mission: Impossible 7 has finished filming in Abu Dhabi, the latest location shoot for the action film. The production team is now headed back to London to put the "finishing touches" on the film.
Mission: Impossible 7 is scheduled to release in cinemas on November 19, 2021, with the sequel on the schedule for November 4, 2022. However, whether or not the reported production changes impacts that date remains to be seen.
Deadline also reported that the UK tabloid reports about Mission: Impossible 7's production being delayed due to pandemic issues are not true.
Shooting back-to-back is a production strategy involving filming two or more films in one go to keep costs down. Popular examples of films produced back-to-back include The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Parts 1 and 2.