Tom Cruise broke his right ankle during a roof-jumping stunt on Mission: Impossible 6, an injury which has forced a temporary shutdown of the major film's production.
A statement released Wednesday from Paramount Studios confirms Cruise's injury and gives an unspecified time for the Mission: Impossible 6 "hiatus."
"During production on the latest Mission: Impossible film, Tom Cruise broke his ankle while performing a stunt. Production will go on hiatus while Tom makes a full recovery," the statement, sent by corporate communications spokesman Chris Petrikin, reads. "The film remains on schedule to open July 27, 2018. Tom wants to thank you all for your concern and support and can't wait to share the film with everyone next summer."
The 55-year-old Cruise was captured on video posted to TMZ jumping from a rigging onto a building's roof for the latest Mission: Impossible installment. The tethered star was shown coming up short and slamming into the building on the London set.
After being hoisted back up, Cruise was seen visibly limping from the harsh impact with the building.
Cruise is well known for his carefully planned but eye-popping stunts, especially with the Mission: Impossible franchise. For 2015's fifth installment, Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, Cruise strapped himself onto the outside of an Airbus A400 that then took off and landed eight times for the film's signature stunt.
"M:I6" Director Christopher McQuarrie told the British film magazine EmpireWednesday, "Tom is great. He’s in very good spirits....When I went to see him, the first thing he said when I walked in the room was, ‘Dude, my ankle’s broken.' Without missing a beat, I said, ‘There’s a silver lining to this cloud. We just don’t know what it is yet.’ "
McQuarrie said he had about "seven or eight weeks" to go worth of filming to complete the project.
The director said Cruise was always supposed to "slam into the side of the building" for the stunt.
"That’s what gives the stunt its energy. He was completely safe the entire time he was doing that. He was padded," said McQuarrie. "On the fourth try, he hit the building at a slightly different angle and he broke his ankle. He knew the instant that he hit the building that his ankle was broken. You can see it on his face."
The injury news comes following the death of stuntwoman SJ Harris, who was killed Monday in a crash on the Vancouver set of the upcoming Deadpool sequel.
In July, a stuntman for The Walking Dead died after suffering serious injuries on the Georgia set. John Bernecker, 33, fell more than 20 feet onto concrete from a balcony while shooting the AMC show.
Frequent collaborator McQuarrie was adamant that Cruise will continue to do his stuntwork even after the accident.
"Absolutely not," the director said when asked if Cruise will slow down. "He is in better shape and better form than I have seen him on any of the movies we’ve worked on in the last ten years."
