A sad day for Tom Cruise fans as two upcoming films for the actor have been delayed. Both Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible 7 have been officially removed from this year’s release schedule. The Top Gun sequel is moving from its Thanksgiving weekend release to May 27th, 2022, whilehe seventh Mission Impossible entry is seeing another delay, moving all the way to September 30th, 2022.
Deadline broke the story and noted the delays come from yet more COVID concerns. As with other films getting delayed like Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Venom, the delays come after a recent study from the National Research Group. The NRG reports “58% of Parents are ‘very or somewhat comfortable’ taking their children to the movies,” which is the lowest it’s been since last April. Deadline and other industry trades note that cinema owners take the NRG ratings very seriously and could be powering these delays.
Countries in Europe are also seeing a slow turnout at the movies, with Deadline noting, “Italy recently posted a 70% decline of its box office norm, while France and UK are down 40%.” Studios and cinemas see next year as the best time for releases, with these numbers hopefully increasing as COVID and the Delta variant slows down around the globe.
These two Tom Cruise films have seemingly bit hit harder than most other movies. The 2022 release marks close to three years since Top Gun: Maverick was initially announced, while Mission: Impossible 7 was previously set to be released on July 23rd, 2021, November 19th, 2022, and May 27th, 2022. The latter movie also encountered production issues caused by COVID.
