Tom Cruise is reportedly creating a 'coronavirus-free village' at an abandoned RAF site in Oxfordshire to allow production on the Mission: Impossible franchise's seventh film to continue.

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Filming on Mission: Impossible 7 was halted earlier this year after the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe, pushing the film's release date back from July 2021 to November 2021.

According to The Sun, 57-year-old Cruise has reportedly set up winnebago trailers for the film's stars – including Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin, Vanessa Kirby and Rebecca Ferguson – to stay in whilst filming on the RAF site to keep the cast and crew in a coronavirus-free bubble on set.

A source told the publication: "The film has already been heavily delayed and there's no sign of things going totally back to normal any time soon, so this is a way to try to get things up and moving again quickly and safely,"

"It's also tough to get hotel rooms at the moment as most of them are shut for the foreseeable future, so it was this or delay things for even longer, it will mean some of the world's biggest stars all living together in a posh campsite while working alongside the rest of the team," they continued.

"It's pricey but Tom always does things bigger and better than anyone, and there's a hell of a lot riding on this film, the Mission: Impossible movies are all massive box office successes and the studio is right behind getting this back on track."

RadioTimes.com has contacted Paramount and Cruise for comment.

Filming for Mission: Impossible 7 was taking place in Venice with director Christopher McQuarrie at the helm, but once the COVID-19 cases rose in Italy, production was moved to the UK before being shut down altogether.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Tuesday, first assistant director Tommy Gormley said: "We were days from shooting in Venice – we were right at the epicentre when it all kicked off – so we had to shut down in Venice where we were four or five days from shooting."

He added that Paramount Pictures is hoping to restart filming in September and plans to visit all of the countries that they originally intended to shoot in and "do a big chunk of it back in the UK".

"September through to end April/May is our target," he said. "We are convinced we can do this."

The Mission: Impossible franchise, starring Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, released its first film in 1996. Mission: Impossible 7's release in 2021 will mark the 25th year of the franchise.

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Lauren Morris
Lauren MorrisEntertainment and Factual Writer
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