(REUTERS): Mission: Impossible 7’s studio has sued its insurance company over an alleged failure to pay out COVID insurance money, claiming that the production on the new movie was shut down seven times due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Filming on the action series starring Tom Cruise was delayed four times in Italy, and three times in the United Kingdom between February 2020 and June 2021”, said the lawsuit filed by Paramount Pictures in U.S. federal court in California.
The stoppages were caused by positive coronavirus tests among members of the cast or crew, or quarantine or lockdowns imposed in countries where the thriller was being filmed.
The lawsuit accuses Indiana-based Federal Insurance Company of breach of contract, saying it has agreed only to pay out $5 million for the first stoppage.
Paramount said in the lawsuit that the insurance company argued there was “no evidence that those cast and crew members could not continue their duties, despite being infected with SARS-CoV-2 and posing an undeniable risk to other individuals involved with the production.”
Paramount did not say how much the shutdowns had cost but said its losses “far exceeded” the $5 million that Federal had agreed to pay for the first instance of coronavirus in February 2020.
Cruise, who is also a producer on the film, lost his temper on the set of “Mission: Impossible 7” in England in December over a breach in COVID protocols, threatening to fire cast and crew members who did not take them seriously.
“Mission: Impossible” is one of the biggest franchises in Hollywood, with 2018’s “Mission: Impossible-Fallout” taking more than $791 million at the worldwide box office. The delayed “Mission: Impossible 7” is due to be released in May 2022.
