Tom Cruise has been given the OK to bypass Norway’s coronavirus quarantine restrictions in order to film the next installment of “Mission: Impossible 7.”
Abid Raja, the country’s Minister of Culture and Equality, confirmed the news in a tweet as well as supplying a clip of a telephone call between himself and the actor discussing his return in the fall.
“Under a very strict corona regime estimated at 6 million in cost, MI7 with Tom Cruise will be allowed to film in Norway,” Raja tweeted, adding that the filming costs will not be provided by the country.
‘MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 7’ SET TO BEGIN PRODUCTION AGAIN IN SEPTEMBER AFTER SHUTTING DOWN DUE TO COVID-19
Raja noted that the cast and crew will have to test negative twice for the coronavirus “upon arrival” in order to film, in addition to undergoing daily temperature checks. A “mobile corona lab” will also be on-site, he said.
“It is a gorgeous country. I can’t wait to get back there,” Cruise is heard telling Raja in the video clip. “I’m very excited, as is the whole crew, to come back.”
Raja expressed delight when Cruise confirmed it was really him on the other end of the phone.
“We are very excited to have you back as well, and we are hoping that we are able to solve this corona situation both for you but also for others,” Raja told the actor. “We have one thing in common, you know?”
The Norway politician then joked that, like Cruise, he’s been “hanging from the Preikestolen.” The Preikestolen translates to the “Pulpit Rock” and is known as one of the country’s big tourist attractions. It served as the nearly 2,000-foot cliff that Cruise scaled in “Mission: Impossible — Fallout.”
Raja added that he is “looking forward” to Cruise’s return, to which the actor replied, “I cannot wait.”
According to Forbes, the Norweigian government recently issued updated quarantine restrictions in the country. The outlet notes that while visitors traveling to Norway from Hungary and seven regions in Sweden will “no longer have to home quarantine,” anyone traveling there from Spain after midnight on July 24 will because it’s been deemed a “red” risk country.
Other red countries include Portugal, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Luxembourg, which all require a 10-day quarantine.
Production on the Cruise-led franchise’s seventh installment halted months ago as a precaution to protect cast and crew from the coronavirus in Italy, where shooting was set to take place prior to the country becoming an epicenter for the outbreak in Europe.
However, Simon Pegg, who plays Benji Dunn in the movies, revealed to Variety last month that the production is poised to get back to work in September, with some new restrictions in place to decrease the risk of contracting COVID-19.
