Release of Mission: Impossible 7 delayed until 2023

The release of Tom Cruise films Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 has been pushed back as a response to delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Paramount Pictures and Skydance have reportedly pushed back Mission: Impossible 7 from September this year until July 14 2023.

They also have a new date for Mission: Impossible 8, which is now intended to arrive on June 28 2024, having been previously set for July 2023.

In a statement reported on The Hollywood Reporter, they said: “After thoughtful consideration, Paramount Pictures and Skydance have decided to postpone the release dates for Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 in response to delays due to the ongoing pandemic.

“The new release dates will be July 14, 2023, and June 28, 2024, respectively.

“We look forward to providing moviegoers with an unparalleled theatrical experience.”

The films, starring Cruise as globe-trotting secret agent Ethan Hunt, have endured a difficult shoot due to the pandemic, suffering a number of delays.

Production began for Mission: Impossible 7 in Venice, Italy, in February 2020 but shut down later that month.

The action film was later moved to the UK but production stopped again due to the virus.

Another shutdown came in June 2021 following positive tests for Covid-19 among the cast and crew in the UK.

The latest instalment in the 3.5 billion dollar franchise was set for release in May 2022 but was moved again to the following September amid a spike in Covid-19 cases in the US caused by the Delta variant.

Mission: Impossible 7, directed by Christopher McQuarrie and also starring Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby, is now set for release in July 2023.