Tom Cruise yells at crew not following COVID rules on Mission: Impossible set
"If I see you doing it again, you're f***ing gone," Cruise told the crew on set. Actor George Clooney says he agrees with Cruise's actions.
Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018).
If you want to stay on actor Tom Cruise's good side, be sure to pay close attention to COVID-19 guidelines while filming on his movie sets. Audio has leaked of Cruise laying down the law on the set of the upcoming Mission: Impossible 7 movie, admonishing anyone not following COVID regulations during production.
"If I see you do it again, you're f***ing gone. And if anyone in this crew does it, that's it -- and you too and you too. And you, don't you ever f***ing do it again," Cruise is heard saying. "We are not shutting this f***ing movie down. Is it understood? If I see it again, you're f***ing gone."
The outburst happened when Cruise apparently spotted two crew members standing less than a meter (3 feet) away from each other at a computer screen at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, England, according to various reports on Tuesday.
"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 can be heard saying in audio obtained by The Sun. "I'm on the phone with every f**king 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!"
Listen to the full audio here.
"We are not shutting this fucking movie down! ... If I see it again, you're fucking gone."
— Lights, Camera, Pod (@LightsCameraPod) December 16, 2020
Leaked audio of Tom Cruise reveals him yelling at 'Mission: Impossible 7' crew for breaking COVID safe protocols on set.
(via @TheSun) pic.twitter.com/lxXGvE2IO2
Actor George Clooney told Howard Stern in an interview on Wednesday that he agreed with Cruise's reaction.
"He didn't overreact because it is a problem," Clooney said. "I have a friend who's an AD on another TV show who just had the almost exact same thing happen with not quite as far out a response."
Clooney added that he might not yell angrily at a movie crew, but he understands Cruise's stance on the importance of following the COVID safety guidelines that the studios have put in place.
"I understand why he did it. He's not wrong at all about that," Clooney added. "You do have a responsibility for everybody else and he's absolutely right about that. If the production goes down, a lot of people lose their jobs. People have to understand that and have to be responsible."
Cruise is so invested in making sure COVID-19 rules are followed while filming that he personally paid around $671,207 (£500,000) for the movie's cast and crew to isolate on an old cruise ship.
There's precedent for his concern. Mission: Impossible 7 has already been hit with multiple COVID-related delays as cast and crew film around Europe, including an incident in which 150 extras weren't allowed to come in to shoot scenes in Venice after a COVID outbreak.
The film, directed by Christopher McQuarrie, is scheduled to arrive in theaters on Nov. 19, 2021, provided there aren't any further delays.
Paramount Pictures didn't respond to a request for comment.
