Today, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie has taken to his Instagram account to announce that American actor Esai Morales has landed a role in the upcoming Mission: Impossible sequels.
The veteran character actor is likely best known for his roles in La Bamba, NYPD Blue, Caprica, The Town, Superfly, Ozark, and most recently with the DC Comics series Titans.
UPDATE: Deadline is reporting that Morales will be replacing Nicholas Hoult as the villain of the two films.
I expect that you will see that Esai Morales has joined the cast. In place of Nicholas Hoult, who was cast in a villain role earlier this year.
Mission: Impossible 7 was one of the first major studio productions to pause after a planned shoot in Venice, Italy was squashed due to the COVID-19 outbreak in that country before it got worse in the United Kingdom and the United States.
The two films were expected to shoot back-to-back under the working title of Libra with Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Watford, England being the homestead production space for the action films.
When filming will resume has yet to be announced.
Esai joins a rather excellent cast that includes Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson (Dune, Doctor Sleep), Vanessa Kirby (Hobbs & Shaw), Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter, Captain America: The First Avenger), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2, Avengers: Infinity War), Henry Czerny (Clear & Present Danger), and Shea Whigham (Agent Carter).
Paramount Pictures recently gave the two sequels new release dates with Mission: Impossible 7 set for November 19th, 2021 bumping it from the summer along with Mission: Impossible 8 coming out on November 4th, 2022.
Are you excited about the Mission: Impossible sequels? I know I am.
