As the film and entertainment industry continues to adapt to the social-distancing protocols of the COVID pandemic, new details are emerging about Tom Cruise’s profanity-laced rant on the European set of Mission Impossible: 7 last December.
Media sources including the Los Angeles Times and the Empire Magazine reported this week that Cruise was having no regrets for the outburst, which surfaced when an audio recording was leaked to the press. Cruise became infuriated when he saw several crew members standing too close to each other during the filming, in violation of widely accepted six-foot-distancing guidelines.
In the recording, Cruise can be heard saying “If I see you do it again, you’re fucking gone. And if anyone in this crew does it, that’s it — and you too and you too. And you, don’t you ever fucking do it again. . . They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherfuckers.”
Cruise was referring to the extraordinary measures Mission Impossible: 7 was taking to create a medically secure environment for the filming, including the unprecedented step of isolating cast and crew on a cruise ship to minimize transmission of the virus from outsiders, a strategy that reportedly cost upwards of $700,000.
This week, Cruise’s Empire interview in which the actor/producer defended his outburst by stating “I said what I said. . . . There was a lot at stake at that point.” Cruise explained that his pique was directed only at a few offending individuals—not the entire crew—who ultimately quit the production—not the entire crew. He defended his remarks by pointing out that his strict protocols were helping to support an industry battered by quarantines on movie sets as well as at cinema box offices.
Claiming that Mission Impossible: 7 had established a “gold standard” for Hollywood during the pandemic, Cruise refused to take back for December harangue.
Originally scheduled for release on July 23 of this year, Mission Impossible: 7 is now scheduled for release on May 27, 2022, distributed by Paramount. It is directed by Christopher McQuarrie.
