Tom Cruise said to be livid over crew flouting Covid-19 rules
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
In this file photo taken in October, actor Tom Cruise (centre), with mask on, jumps between two taxiboats during the shooting of the film Mission Impossible: Lybra in Venice.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LOS ANGELES • Tom Cruise let rip over an apparent breach of Covid-19 safety protocols on the London set of the new Mission: Impossible movie, telling crew members they would be fired if they did not obey the rules, Britain's Sun newspaper reported on Tuesday.
In expletive-filled remarks captured on audio tape obtained by The Sun, the star and producer of the action film yelled at the crew about lapses of social distancing and other rules that allow movies to be made during the coronavirus pandemic.
A source close to the production said the tape was authentic. Cruise's representative declined to comment.
"I'm on the phone with every f***ing studio at night, insurance companies, producers and they're looking at us and using us to make their movies," Cruise told the crew on the set.
"Do you understand the responsibility that you have? Because I will deal with your reason. And if you can't be reasonable and I can't deal with your logic, you're fired," he added, according to the tape.
The Sun did not say when the incident took place, but the film-makers arrived in London early this month.
The seventh Mission: Impossible was one of the first movies to shut down production because of the coronavirus when it abandoned filming in Venice, Italy, in February.
Production resumed in September, with filming in Italy, Norway and London. Cruise in July personally appealed to Norway's Prime Minister to shoot parts of the film in the country under modified quarantine rules.
The Paramount Pictures film is scheduled to be released in November next year.
Cruise told the crew that Hollywood was relying on movies like Mission: Impossible to keep the beleaguered industry going.
"We want the gold standard. They're back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. Because they believe in us and what we're doing," he said, according to the audio tape.
Mission: Impossible is one of the biggest franchises in Hollywood, with 2018's Mission: Impossible - Fallout taking more than US$791 million (S$1.05 billion) at the worldwide box office.
REUTERS
