Mission: Impossible 8 Had To Halt Production After Fluffiest Invasion Imaginable

Complications are afoot on the "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two" set. After the monumental success of Tom Cruise's "Top Gun: Maverick," which brought home a mind boggling $1.4 billion at the global box office (via The Numbers), all eyes are on the upcoming "Mission: Impossible" two-parter. For the first time ever in the iconic film franchise's history, two films will share the same subtitle. Originally meant to shoot back-to-back, "Dead Reckoning Part One" and "Part Two" are no longer following that plan (via Deadline), though they will still release a year apart, in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

While plot details are non-existent, "Dead Reckoning Part One" is set to introduce a bevy of new names to the franchise, including "Captain America" star Hayley Atwell, "Joker" actor Shea Whigham, and "Obi-Wan Kenobi" standout Indira Varma. The seventh film will also see the return of Henry Czerny, who played IMF director Eugene Kittridge in the first film all the way back in 1996.

"Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning" is just one of the many productions across the globe that suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a series of hiatuses and lengthy rehearsals, the highly-anticipated production finally kicked off in 2020, though not without Cruise losing his cool along the way. Now, in 2022, the eighth film in the billion-dollar franchise had to halt production once again.

According to a recent report, "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two" had to halt its production. No, Tom Cruise hasn't injured himself again and the cameras didn't stop rolling due to COVID-19 cases on set. Instead, the reasoning is far more adorable and one for the "Mission: Impossible" history books. Fox News says the upcoming Tom Cruise blockbuster paused filming due to a flock of sheep interrupting the production. According to the report, dozens of sheep flurried onto the Lake District, England set, leaving Cruise unable to do anything but watch them amble their way through the production. 

Production on the eighth outing began in March (via The Hollywood Reporter), some seven months after "Part One" wrapped up. Details on "Dead Reckoning Part Two" are slim, seeing as the film is directly tied to "Part One," which is equally as elusive. What is known is that the seventh and eighth "Mission: Impossible" films could potentially be the final outings featuring Cruise's Hunt. Variety reports that the two-parter is apparently meant to be a grand finale for the film series' protagonist.