The Show Must Go On: Coronavirus Restricts Global Travel, But Filmmakers Getting Exemptions

Sarah RumpfJul 5th, 2020, 11:27 pm
 
tom cruise

Shannon Finney/Getty Images

Countries around the world have enacted travel restrictions and quarantine requirements due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the rules seem to apply differently for the Tinseltown set. Several major studio film projects have been given the go-ahead to resume filming, quarantine restrictions waived for their cast and crew, even as cases continue to spike in the United States.

Last Friday, the U.K government issued a 14-day quarantine requirement for anyone traveling to England, unless they were coming from a specified set of countries on an exemption list, places where Covid-19 cases are not as prevalent. The United States, currently experiencing not only a surge in cases but also a worrying surge in hospitalizations, was not on the list.

But Tom Cruise, who is both starring in and producing Mission: Impossible 7, won’t have to comply with a two-week quarantine, according to a report by Variety. The movie was being filmed back-to-back with its sequel, Mission: Impossible 8, at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, near London, and shut down production in February as the pandemic began.

Cruise spoke directly to British Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden in an online video chat that Dowden tweeted about.

There are several remaining requirements for film cast and crews, including regular Covid-19 testing, keeping everyone working on the film both living and working in controlled “bubble” environments, and other rules meant to minimize contacts with outside people. To qualify for the quarantine exemption, a film must also meet certain thresholds for hiring British or European Union citizens and spending the film’s budget (including salaries, digital effects, and other aspects of filmmaking) within Britain.

The U.K. government released a statement regarding the exemption to the quarantine rules, stating that the decision “recognizes the ability of international productions to isolate cast and crew from the general public, and that individual studios and production companies have developed practical solutions for safe working practices, including rolling out new training programs for screen industry workers filming in studios and on location.”

Produced by Paramount, the Mission: Impossible film series are mega-budget movies that bring in massive profits. The original Mission: Impossible had a budget of $80 million and a global box office of over $450 million. Each of the subsequent films had budgets over $100 million and more than doubled that in profits — some of them even made quadruple profits. It’s little wonder England is eager to have Paramount film two more Mission: Impossible installments there.

Ben Roberts, chief executive of the British Film Institute, approved of the quarantine exemptions, telling Variety that film and television projects were worth £9.9 billion [$12.4 billion] to the British economy each year. “Being able to get production back up and running as quickly as possible is going to help our industry and its 77,000 production workers contribute to the U.K.’s economic recovery.”

England isn’t the only country rolling out the red carpet for Hollywood filmmakers. New Zealand has issued a green light for several major film and television productions, including Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings series, an Avatar sequel, Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop, and a Power Rangers reboot movie that has the spandex-clad teen fighters traveling back to the 1990s.

New Zealand reported they were coronavirus-free in June, and have seen a sporadic appearance of a single-digit number of cases since then.

Film production in the United States remains at a standstill.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.