Mission: Impossible 7 is delayed for the 4th time by COVID-19

Releasing the next Mission: Impossible movie in theaters is turning out to be the most impossible mission of all.

Paramount Pictures announced Friday that the next two films in the action franchise starring Tom Cruise have been delayed, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Mission: Impossible 7 was scheduled to open on Sept. 30, 2022, but it now won't be released until July 2023. The eighth film in the series will then open in June 2024 instead of June 2023, as previously scheduled.

"After thoughtful consideration, Paramount Pictures and Skydance have decided to postpone the release dates for Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 in response to delays due to the ongoing pandemic," Paramount Pictures and Skydance said, adding, "We look forward to providing moviegoers with an unparalleled theatrical experience."

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This was yet another delay for the movies amid the pandemic, as the first of the two sequels was previously expected to open in July 2021, only to be delayed to November 2021, May 2022, and then September 2022. Mission: Impossible 7 was one of the first major tentpole movies to begin production during the pandemic in 2020.

The latest Mission: Impossible delay came as a bit of a surprise after a number of tentpole blockbusters have been released in recent months and performed well at the box office including Spider-Man: No Way Home, though Sony did recently delay its film Morbius from a planned January release. Paramount didn't specify whether Tom Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick will still make its May 2022 release date. For now, though, the Reporter says the film — which released its trailer all the way back in July 2019 — isn't expected to be delayed again.