Paramount settles 'Mission: Impossible 7' lawsuit with insurer over COVID delays
Jul 29, 2022
Washington [US], July 29 : A confidential settlement has been reached by Paramount with its insurer Chubb over claims arising from repeated COVID-19 production delays on 'Mission: Impossible 7'.
According to Variety, the studio sued in August 2021, alleging that the insurer was trying to limit its losses to just USD 1 million. Paramount alleged that it was owed far more than that and that the COVID-19 shutdowns should have triggered a cast insurance coverage with a USD 100 million limit.
The two sides were set to begin mediation of the dispute on Thursday. But on Wednesday, they filed a notice in federal court indicating they had reached a settlement.
"A formal written settlement agreement has been prepared and is being commented on and finalized. The parties anticipate executing a final written settlement agreement by August 5, 2022," the parties stated.
Productions obtain cast insurance due to the risk of incurring massive costs if the director or one of the film's stars becomes ill or dies during production.
'Mission: Impossible 7' is set for release on July 14, 2023, two years behind its original schedule. Production on the film began in February 2020, just as the pandemic began to spread around the globe. Ultimately, production had to be halted seven times.
Chubb did pay out USD 5 million on the cast insurance policy for the first shutdown. But on later shutdowns, the insurer took the position that the cast insurance policy was not triggered, and that liability was limited to just USD 1 million under the policy's "civil authority" provision.
Paramount took the position that the cast insurance policy should have been triggered since the shutdowns were intended to keep the principals from getting sick.
Chubb argued that the productions were shut down due to government orders, triggering the civil authority provision, which is typically meant to cover events like riots or hurricanes, as per Variety.
'Mission: Impossible 8' is currently scheduled for release on June 28, 2024.
