WGA Strike Throws Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 2 Off Track

The ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, a critical effort to secure the future of writers in the competitive film industry, is making an impact that will probably be felt for years to come as numerous eagerly anticipated blockbusters and TV series fail to meet their scheduled release dates.

At the moment, the production of countless major movies and popular shows is being put on hold indefinitely. Directors, producers, and actors can't proceed with their work without writers drafting and revising scripts for them. The second part of the final Mission Impossible instalment has now joined the ranks of high-profile productions forced to put filming on pause.

The latest reports suggest that Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two has halted production due to the WGA strike. Without writers on board, it's impossible to tweak the script during production. The film's director, Christopher McQuarrie, is clearly frustrated about the situation that has recently resembled an uphill battle for him. His movie has experienced multiple disruptions in the past few years, initially due to COVID and now because of the strike.

‘It's unrelenting. Behind each tsunami is another tsunami. We live in a state of 24-hour tsunami awareness. That's just what we do,’ McQuarrie lamented.

According to some sources, McQuarrie has already completed approximately 40% of the film, with footage from South Africa and the Arctic already in the can. One can only speculate how this situation is affecting Tom Cruise. Given his packed schedule, waiting for the strike to end is not only tiresome but also immensely costly: the delay in the filming and release schedule can end up costing him millions of dollars.

However, the Mission Impossible franchise fans need not be overly concerned about the strike. The first film of the final instalment is already finished and slated for release on 12 July 2023.

That being said, Paramount Pictures may need to reassess the release date for the second film, initially planned for 28 June 2024. The film simply won't be ready by then if the current delays persist for an appreciable length of time.

Source: Empire Magazine.