Tom Cruise with Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Rebecca Ferguson in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One.
Tom Cruise with Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Rebecca Ferguson in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One.
Tom Cruise has halted filming the new Mission: Impossible film due to the Hollywood actors’ strike.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two, which was being filmed in the UK, has been temporarily abandoned amid a strike by Hollywood actors.
The Surrey-based set appeared deserted in photos shared by the Daily Mail, in a blow to both Longcross Studios and producers who planned to release the film in June 2024.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One has just hit cinemas and has been praised by critics and fans.
However, since news of the strike by members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra), the mood has shifted.
Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise in a scene from Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One. Photo / AP
The strike began after actors’ demands for higher wages and protections against artificial intelligence were not met in negotiations.
The A-list cast of Christopher Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer walked out of the movie’s UK premiere in London and Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 3 has also gone on hiatus.
Oppenheimer cast members including Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh were visibly emotional as they left the premiere early and Nolan said the cast had left to “write their picket signs”.
Succession star Brian Cox said the situation may cause Hollywood big hitters to “go to the brink”.
“It’s a situation that can get really very unpleasant and could go on for some time,” the actor told Sky News.
The bulk of filming for part two of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning has already been shot, with only some of the most extreme, and crucial, scenes yet to be filmed.
Director Christopher McQuarrie told Collider at the premiere of part one: “We’ve shot all but one of our international locations. We’ve shot our big action except for the biggest set piece, the central set piece of the film, which is massive and unlike anything we’ve done and, I think, unlike anything you’ve seen.”
It’s another blow for the franchise, which faced setbacks while trying to film the first instalment, which was constantly pushed back by the Covid pandemic.
Now all of Hollywood is set to halt as unions ordered members to down tools during the long-standing row that could delay the release of blockbusters across the globe.
The latest Deadpool instalment, starring Ryan Reynolds, has also halted production. Photo / Supplied
The actors’ strike centres on a dispute over compensation, especially in light of an industry-wide shift towards streaming that has changed the way performers receive residuals or royalty payments.
Protections for actors from AI are also on the negotiation table due to advancements in technology causing fears within the industry.
