Writer/director Christopher McQuarrie has announced Nicholas Hoult has dropped out of the upcoming Mission: Impossible sequels due to a scheduling conflict and replaced by Esai Morales.
Morales will be playing the villain in Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8 – the role previously portrayed by X-Men star Nicholas Hoult. According to Deadline, Hoult had to drop out of the Mission: Impossible sequels due to the delay in filming which caused a scheduling conflict with another one of Hoult’s projects.
Esai Morales is perhaps best known for his most recent roles as the DC Comics villain Deathstroke in Titans and his recurring role in the Netflix series Ozark.
This isn’t the first major change to the Mission: Impossible sequels due to the ongoing global health crisis. Mission: Impossible 7 was originally dated for July 23rd, 2021, but with the film’s production currently on halt, the film will now premiere four months later on November 19th, 2021. Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible 8 previously had a release date of August 5th, 2022, but it will release a couple of months later in the fall on November 4th, 2022.
SEE ALSO: Details on Hayley Atwell’s Mission: Impossible 7 character revealed
Featuring in the cast of the spy sequels are returning stars Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Henry Czerny, along with new additions Hayley Atwell (Avengers: Endgame), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2), and Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire).
