The release dates of the seventh and eighth “Mission: Impossible” films starring Tom Cruise have been delayed by Paramount, with each moving back to the fall from their previous release dates in the summers of 2021 and 2022.
“Mission: Impossible 7,” previously scheduled for July 23, 2021, will now open on November 19, 2021, and “Mission: Impossible 8,” previously scheduled for August 5, 2022, is now November 4, 2022.
Paramount has also set new release dates for the previously undated films “The Tomorrow War” with Chris Pratt and the animated film adaptation of the popular kids series “PAW Patrol” for the summer of 2021. “The Tomorrow War” will open July 23, 2021, and “PAW Patrol” opens Aug. 20, 2021.
A “Dungeons & Dragons” film from the directors of “Game Night,” previously scheduled for Nov. 19, 2021 by Paramount, will now open in the summer on May 27, 2022. And “Spell,” a horror film starring Omari Hardwick that was meant to open this August, has been pulled from the release calendar.
Production on the “Mission: Impossible” films in Italy, which are filming back to back with the intention of being released a year apart, was shut down due to the coronavirus back on Feb. 24. Cruise had not traveled to Italy or had been quarantined in his hotel room as some outlets had reported.
Christopher McQuarrie is directing both films in the action franchise. Returning to the cast are Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Hayley Atwell, alongside newcomers Nicholas Hoult, Shea Whigham and Pom Klementieff. Henry Czerny is returning to the franchise after being away since the first film.
Paramount is releasing both “Mission: Impossible” films in conjunction with Bad Robot, Skydance Media and TC Productions.
Paramount is the latest studio to shuffle its release slate as studios have largely written off the summer of 2020 and begun moving their tentpole films to 2021 and beyond. Paramount also recently moved the “Jackass” movie to the summer of 2021. “The Lovebirds,” which was meant to open in April, was unloaded to Netflix, and John Krasinski’s horror sequel “A Quiet Place Part II,” which was meant to open in mid-March just as Hollywood was shutting down due to coronavirus, will now open in the fall.