In what’s becoming a reoccurring theme for Tom Cruise-starring movies, the upcoming Mission: Impossible sequels have postponed their release dates nearly a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Paramount Pictures announced Friday.
Filmed simultaneously before and during the pandemic, Mission: Impossible 7 has shifted from Sept. 30, 2022 to July 14, 2023; that’s a week after the July 7, 2023 release date for Mission: Impossible 8, which has now moved to June 28, 2024.
Back in pre-pandemic times, in January 2019, the sequels for the globe-trotting action franchise were originally scheduled for summer 2021 and 2022 releases.
“After thoughtful consideration, Paramount Pictures and Skydance have decided to postpone the release dates for Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 in response to delays due to the ongoing pandemic. The new release dates will be July 14, 2023, and June 28, 2024, respectively,” the companies said in a statement (via Variety). “We look forward to providing moviegoers with an unparalleled theatrical experience.”
Moviegoers will — for now — get to see Cruise in theaters when the long-delayed Top Gun: Maverick finally arrives on May 27. Like the Mission: Impossible sequels, that long-awaited sequel will hit multiplexes years after its initial release date, as Top Gun: Maverick was originally scheduled to take flight way back on July 12, 2019 before additional stunt shooting initially delayed it to summer 2020, into the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic and two more years of postponements.