Tom Cruise faces ‘M25 Mission Impossible’ as he plans helicopter diversion route for film crew struggling to reach set
16 March 2024, 14:31 | Updated: 16 March 2024, 14:35
The actor has made his 'own M25 diversion route' as he reportedly has helicopters on standby to ensure that filming for the next Mission: Impossible goes ahead this weekend.
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Tom Cruise, 61, 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.
But the Hollywood actor has come up with a solution to make sure his cast and crew can make the film set.
Cruise, who is a qualified pilot himself, is reportedly using a helipad in Battersea, southwest London, to fly his team to the Mission: Impossible set in Surrey’s Longcross Studios. The studios are just off the M3, close to the M25.
Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson and Hannah Waddingham are among the cast reportedly filming at the studios this weekend.
“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,” a source told The Sun.
“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.”
“Staff on the movie or stars who are needed for filming have been told if they can’t get to Longcross because of the M25 closures they’ll be flown in by chopper.”
It comes as traffic has started to mount around the M25 which has shut, marking 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.
Project leader at National Highways, Jonathan Wade, said that people should “find something to do at home” rather than travel this weekend.
"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 closure is in place to allow the demolition of a bridleway bridge and installation of a large gantry.
It is the first of five closures between now and September.
National Highways said the improvement scheme will lead to an increase in the number of lanes to "make journeys safer and improve traffic flow".
