10 Recent Movies That Were Forced To Shut Down Production (And Why)

If there was ever any doubt that the coronavirus is a serious threat, consider this: it just took down Tom Cruise. Y'know, the guy who scaled the Burj Khalifa, strapped himself to the outside of a plane, climbed all over a helicopter - in mid-flight - and carried on running after breaking his ankle.

Well, we should clarify: Tom Cruise is fine, but the headline-generating epidemic that's currently sweeping the globe did just shut down production of the actor's latest project, the upcoming seventh instalment in the Mission: Impossible movie series.

Due to more cases of the coronavirus popping up across Italy, the Venetian government has requested that huge public gatherings - like a film shoot - be avoided. As a result, Paramount didn't really have a choice here, and has decided to "alter" the movie's production plan in response, as they noted in their statement (via Variety):

"Out of an abundance of caution for the safety and well-being of our cast and crew, and efforts of the local Venetian government to halt public gatherings in response to the threat of coronavirus, we are altering the production plan for our three week shoot in Venice... during this hiatus we want to be mindful of the concerns of the crew and are allowing them to return home until production starts. We will continue to monitor this situation, and work alongside health and government officials as it evolves."

On the plus side, Mission: Impossible 7 is currently scheduled for July 2021, so there's plenty of time to get the movie done before that date.