Paramount Pictures have confirmed recent reports that Tom Cruise had injured himself on the set of Mission: Impossible 6, saying that filming has been put on hold while the film’s lead star recovers from a broken ankle.

Pictures obtained by TMZ on Sunday (August 13th) seemed to show Cruise injuring himself while leaping in a harness between two buildings, colliding with and clambering onto the second after impacting it awkwardly. Later, he was seen limping around the set. A subsequent report in Variety suggested he had injured his hip as well as his right ankle.

“During production on the latest Mission: Impossible film, Tom Cruise broke his ankle while performing a stunt,” Paramount said in a statement on Thursday (August 17th). “Production will go on hiatus while Tom makes a full recovery. Tom wants to thank you all for your concern and support and can’t wait to share the film with everyone next summer.”

Tom CruiseTom Cruise performing the stunt in question in London

It’s unclear how long filming on M:I6 will be delayed for, with some suggestions saying it could be three months, complicated by the fact that other members of the cast, including Henry Cavill and Rebecca Ferguson, are due to start other projects in the autumn.

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Cruise is notable for still performing the vast majority of his own stunts, even at the age of 55. Indeed, M:I6’s director Christopher McQuarrie spoke to Empire after the accident and said that the whole idea of the stunt had been for Cruise to hit the building as he did.

“The truth is that the stunt was never designed for Tom to jump from rooftop to rooftop which a) would have been pretty boring, and b) when you see the actual shot you’ll understand how it was designed,” he said. “He was always supposed to slam into the side of the building. That’s what gives the stunt its energy."

“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. He knew in that instant, ‘Well, we’re not coming back here. We’re not doing this again today’,” he continued.

According to reports, the release date of July 27th, 2018 has not been put back.

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