Tom Cruise flashed a smile as he departed London in his helicopter on Wednesday to resume filming for Mission Impossible’s eighth instalment.
The actor, 61, who has been a qualified pilot for nearly 30 years after securing his qualification in 1994, made his way to Longcross in Surrey.
Giving a wave, he arrived at the helipad wearing a navy blue padded jacket with a knitted sweater underneath.
Tom topped off his casual look with some jeans and white Nike trainers as he carried a black back pack.
Filming for the eighth instalment – which will likely be called Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two – has started up again after the actor’s strike delayed the production.
The Mission: Impossible film series, beginning in 1996, is based on a 1966 television series of the same name.
Production on the eighth film had originally halted so that the cast could promote Part One, and then the strike began causing further delays.
Along with Mission: Impossible, Tom is flying back into action for a new Top Gun sequel after the massive box office success of the previous entry.
Tom will be back as Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, and Paramount, which will be producing again, is hoping to reunite him with his recent costars Miles Teller and Glen Powell.
The news that Tom is back in business with Paramount — where he has released many of his recent films — comes just days after he signed up for a deal with Warner Bros. to produce and develop new films for that studio, including movies he’ll star in.
According to Puck News, Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger is writing a script for the third entry in the series.
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that director Joseph Kosinski is also expected to return after proving himself with the critical and commercial smash success.
Tom’s last deal with Paramount ended in 2006, despite his continued work with the studio, and the new deal with Warner Bros. is nonexclusive, which will allow him to still work with other studios.
However, he’s expected to be getting his own office on the Warners lot.
Tom and his costars helped lead the long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick to nearly $1.5 billion in grosses, and the action film’s months-long stint in theaters help revive the theatrical business amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Although news of the high-flying sequel struck some as an attempt to blunt the positive publicity Warner Bros. was getting for scoring a Tom connection, THR reports that it has been quietly in development since the late fall.
Paramount didn’t comment on the development.
