The production of Mission: Impossible 8 has hit a fresh problem thanks to an issue with a submarine. More here.
Given the horrendous amount of problems we’ve seen films suffer over the last few years, is the next Mission: Impossible film the most delayed production of all?
Fresh reports today (via World Of Reel) state that the production has been hit with another weeks-long delay as a $25m submarine crucial to the film’s plot is currently unusable. That’s reportedly because the mechanism that lowers it into the water has jammed under the considerable weight of the craft itself.
While it’s a suitably oversized problem for such an oversized film, it’s really no laughing matter. Production has now been pushed back by several weeks. This of course follows the major delay caused by last year’s strikes, not to mention several pushed dates for the release of the film already.
What is certain here is that Paramount can’t afford for the film to miss its release window. The failure of last year’s Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning to secure a lengthy IMAX run most assuredly hurt the film’s financial performance. A delay to the as yet untitled Mission: Impossible 8 would again result in the studio negotiating for premium format screens from a disadvantageous position, given that IMAX has already revealed its slate for 2025 and there’s not a lot of room left for latecomers.
Read more: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning review | Ethan Hunt versus the world
There are some big numbers floating around regarding the production cost for the film, numbers which malfunctioning submarine winches will only be sending in one direction. $400m is the current figure being touted, but whether that’s accurate is anybody’s guess.
Still, it’s a grim irony that a film that was originally supposed to shoot back to back with Dead Reckoning has now stretched out its production for years beyond that film’s production, having suffered from an appalling run of bad luck. Of course, there’s no explanation as to why action hero Tom Cruise couldn’t just fix the winch himself; perhaps his insurance wouldn’t cover him? We’ll bring you more on this project (hopefully of the good news kind) as we hear it.
