With explosive anger familiar to anyone who has recently watched A Few Good Men or Magnolia, Tom Cruise laid into a pair of Mission: Impossible 7 crew members this week after they apparently broke the production’s carefully plotted COVID-19 protocols.
In clandestine audio published by the British tabloid The Sun on Tuesday, Cruise can be heard unloading on the crew members, whom the publication reported were standing closely together alongside a computer monitor.
“I don’t ever want to see it again, ever. And if you don’t do it, you’re fired. If I see you do it again you’re fucking gone,” Cruise said at one point.
According to The Sun, the crew members were apparently wearing masks but not practicing adequate social distancing measures. Neither the tabloid nor the audio provided further contextualization for the incident. Coronavirus cases in England, where Mission: Impossible 7 is currently shooting, have soared in recent weeks.
“We are 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,” Cruise tells the crew in the audio. “I’m on the phone with every fucking studio at night, insurance companies, producers, and they’re looking at us and using us to make their movies. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherfuckers. I don’t ever want to see it again. Ever!”
Cruise evidently didn’t want to hear any rationalizations crew members might have for breaking safety protocols. “You can tell it to the people who are losing their fucking homes because our industry is shut down,” he said. “It’s not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education. That’s what I sleep with every night—the future of this fucking industry! So I’m sorry, I am beyond your apologies. I have told you, and now I want it, and if you don’t do it, you’re out. We are not shutting this fucking movie down! Is it understood? If I see it again, you’re fucking gone.”
According to The Sun, Cruise had taken an active interest in Mission: Impossible 7’s health and safety protocols, especially after the production was forced to shut down in October following a coronavirus outbreak on the set in Italy. The film, which is being directed by Christopher McQuarrie, returned to the United Kingdom to shoot there late last month. Cruise has previously been photographed on the set wearing a mask.
Neither Cruise nor Paramount, which is distributing the Mission: Impossible sequel, has publicly commented on the audio leak.
When Cruise hasn’t been working this year or policing the Mission: Impossible crew’s adherence to health guidelines, he’s tried to single-handedly revive the theatrical movie experience. In August, as Christopher Nolan’s Tenet made its debut in British theaters amid great consternation about the safety of seeing movies at all during the pandemic, Cruise posted a video of himself attending a screening of the film. “Here we are,” Cruise said in the celebratory clip which he uploaded to social media. “Back to the movies.”
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