Tom Cruise and his Mission Impossible 7 entourage have returned to Venice, where the film crew bailed out eight months ago in the early days of Italy's coronavirus emergency.

The Hollywood star, 58, was spotted jumping between boats in what appeared to rehearse scenes from the blockbuster movie directed by Christopher McQuarrie.

Dressed in a dark suit with a black face mask, Cruise made the daring leaps between boats in his heeled shoes, seemingly unphased at the prospect of falling into the canal's waters.

It is the first time that filming for Mission Impossible has resumed in Venice, after the crew halted production in the lagoon city on 24 February, leaving behind their luxury lodgings at Hotel Cipriani out of "an abundance of caution" due to the covid-19 crisis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk0yQ7FRzvM

Filming was relocated to the UK, and subsequently Norway, however earlier this month the Mission Impossible crew roared into Rome, where Cruise has played Ethan Hunt for the last couple of weeks, filming car chases all over the city centre.

Cruise is set to remain in Venice until the first days of November, when filming is expected to take place in Piazza S. Marco and Palazzo Ducale.

Mission: Impossible 7 currently has a scheduled release date in cinemas of 19 November 2021, however this is subject to change given the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.