'Mission Impossible 7' was one of several movie productions forced to halt filming due to the current pandemic. It recommenced shooting in recent weeks. But now it's run into a new mishap.
According to The Sun, there could be further delays to production after a motorbike on set caught fire.
Reportedly its star Tom Cruise was working with a parachute for a quarry “snow scene” when a stuntman’s bike exploded after a leap from a ramp.
The stuntman had cleared the ramp when the bike landed on pillows filled with cardboard and caught alight.
Originally, he was supposed to land on the pillows while his bike would crash close by.
Oxfordshire Fire Service attended to the blaze.
Cruise had checked out the stunt set-up the day before and is said to be very annoyed about what happened.
The action sequence is one of the most expensive filmed in the UK. It took six weeks to prepare.
No one was injured.
The £2 million set has been temporarily closed as the powers that be try to figure out what went wrong.
A source said: "This has been a massive challenge to stage and has cost a fortune, not to mention weeks and weeks of construction.
"Unfortunately, it was miscalculated. The heat and the friction of the tyres meant that when the bike crashed, the cardboard padding sparked and went up in flames.
"Fortunately, nobody was hurt but it's a total catastrophe, not to mention extremely expensive for all concerned. Tom is very frustrated. Nobody wants more delays."
On the last 'Mission Impossible' movie, Tom Cruise broke his ankle filming a stunt. So the series hasn't exactly been accident free...
'Mission Impossible 7' is set for release on November 19, 2021.
