The Hollywood star isn’t prepared to let the major motorway closure get in the way of filming.
Tom Cruise has reportedly made his own ‘M25 diversion route’ to ensure his fellow cast and crew members can get to the set of the new Mission: Impossible movie.
The Oscar-winning actor is shooting the eighth Mission Impossible film this weekend near the stretch of roads that are set to be shut on the M25.
The UK’s busiest road shut between junctions 10 (A3 Wisley) and 11 (A320 Chertsey Interchange) in Surrey on Friday evening and will remain closed until 6am on Monday.
Five miles of traffic has been reported on the motorway, with some warning drivers could face as much as a five-hour delay to their journeys.
However, the Top Gun star is putting his aviation experience to good use and is said to have helicopters on standby to help skirt the expected ‘carmageddon’.
Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson and Hannah Waddingham are among the cast reportedly filming at the studios this weekend, and they can all expect to be picked up and whisked away to work by Cruise and his choppers.
The 61-year-old is apparently using a helipad in Battersea, southwest London, to fly his team to the movie set in Surrey’s Longcross Studios.
A source told The Sun: “The M25 closure is a headache for most people but not for Tom. He is so keen to keep Mission: Impossible 8 in production that he’s got helicopters on standby in London to fly his crew over to Longcross.
“It sounds excessive but delaying work on the film is a bigger problem and Tom is such a professional – he’d move heaven and Earth to keep the show on the road.”
Production of the the eight instalment of the franchise has already experienced lengthy delays and disruptions, thanks to Covid and then last year’s Hollywood actors’ strike, which pushed it from its intended release date in 2024.
Simon Pegg recently announced in an emotional post on social media that this would be his last involvement in the franchise.
This weekend marks the first time in history that the motorway has been closed during the day for roadworks, with around 6,000 vehicles an hour set to be detoured off the M25 and on to local A roads.
Speaking to LBC News earlier this week, project leader at National Highways advised commuters to “find something to do at home” rather than travel this weekend ahead of the scheduled work.
“Please, if you can either avoid travelling completely, find something to do at home – decorate the bathroom or something, or play in the garden,” he said.
“If you must go, travel by train, walk, use a bicycle. I don’t mind really what you do.
“Avoid driving anywhere around those diversionary routes around Painshill, Byfleet, West Byfleet on the eastern side of Woking. It will be in your interests.”
The eagerly anticipated eight Mission: Impossible movie, which recently dropped it’s intended title of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, is now eyeing a May 2025 release.
New additions to the cast include Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman as well as Ted Lasso‘s Hannah Waddingham.
Mark Gatiss, Charles Parnell, Janet McTeer also recently joined the project.
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