Tom Cruise films 'Top Gun,' 'Mission: Impossible' delayed amid COVID wave

LOS ANGELES - Paramount Pictures has postponed the release of Tom Cruise films "Top Gun: Maverick" until May 2022 and "Mission: Impossible 7" until September 2022, a spokesman for the ViacomCBS Inc studio said Wednesday, as COVID-19 infections rise.

The "Top Gun" sequel, which has been delayed multiple times during the pandemic, had been set to debut in theaters on Nov. 19, just ahead of Thanksgiving, to kick off the holiday moviegoing season. "Top Gun" will now debut on May 27, the date that "M:I 7" had been set to light up screens over next year's Memorial Day weekend. That forced a shift for "M:I 7," which was moved to Sept. 30, 2022.