Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible 7 delayed amid Delta surge
Both films have experienced repeated delays due to the pandemic.
Tom Cruise films Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible 7 have been delayed amid a spike in Covid-19 cases in the US caused by the Delta variant.
Studio Paramount said the Top Gun sequel will now arrive in May next year instead of November 2021.
Mission: Impossible 7 has been moved from its May 2022 slot to the following September.
Paramount also pushed back the release of comedy Jackass Forever from October to February.
The moves come as the US experiences another wave of Covid-19 as a result of the more transmissible Delta variant, with studios fearing the virus’ re-emergence will keep customers away from cinemas.
The daily case average in America was 160,041 on Tuesday, according to official figures.
Despite Delta’s impact in the US, UK and Europe, film fans have major releases to look forward to over the coming weeks.
September is set to see the long-awaited arrival of James Bond movie No Time To Die, while October should bring highly awaited films including Dune, The Many Saints Of Newark and The French Dispatch.
Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel to the 1986 action original, will see Cruise, 59, reprise the role of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.
Mission: Impossible 7 will once again see the Hollywood star as special agent Ethan Hunt.
Both films have been repeatedly delayed amid the pandemic.
