Paramount Pictures said that production of their latest film in the “Mission: Impossible” series starring Tom Cruise has been stopped in Italy following the coronavirus outbreak. The seventh installment of the franchise was scheduled to shoot in Venice for three weeks, the first location for production. A Paramount spokesperson said in a statement,

“Out of an abundance of caution for the safety and well-being of our cast and crew, and efforts of the local Venetian government to halt public gatherings in response to the threat of coronavirus, we are altering the production plan for our three week shoot in Venice.”

The spokesperson added that crew members were allowed to return home until  production resumed. Italy reported its seventh death from the new coronavirus on Monday. The number of cases in the country now stood at 229, the highest number in Europe. “Mission: Impossible VII” is due in theaters on July 23, 2021.