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Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise and his fellow Mission: Impossible 7 producers are reportedly taking over an old airbase in England so cast and crew can live there while filming the movie amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shooting on the latest installment in the action franchise was halted in February, after coronavirus outbreaks prevented filming in Venice, Italy, and, like productions all over the world, it is on hiatus.

However, in a bid to get the film finished, movie chiefs are apparently taking over an old Royal Air Force site in Oxfordshire, where they will build sets, and a village of high-end trailers so its stars can live there in a pandemic-proof bubble while shooting.

"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," a Mission: Impossible insider tells British newspaper The Sun.

"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."

Revealing the star's own role in pushing forward with production, they add: "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 movie is due for release in November next year, and Tommy Gormley, first assistant director to helmer Christopher McQuarrie, recently revealed that they hope to be shooting on location in the U.K. and Italy by this September.

"We hope to restart in September," he told BBC Radio 4's Today program. "We hope to visit all the countries we planned to. We hope to do a big chunk of it back in the U.K. on the backlot and in the studio."

Film and TV productions have been given the green light to resume following the easing of the U.K.'s COVID-19 lockdown - with some resuming as early as next week, albeit with strict social distancing regulations in place.