Five film crew members have quit after Tom Cruise lashed out on the set of Mission: Impossible 7 after crew members appeared to ignore social distancing rules at Warner Bros Studios.

Leaked audio captured Cruise threatening crew members that if they broke social distancing rules again, they’d be “f****** gone” as he feared that potential Covid-19 infections on set could hold up production.

Filming for Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 restarted at Warner Bros Studios in Leavesden and other parts of the UK in July under strict coronavirus restrictions.

Now The Sun reports that after news of the first outburst, there has been “more anger” at the already “tense” production.

The rant which involved several uses of profanity was declared the “final straw” according to The Sun, as five members quit.

The initial dispute happened after Cruise noticed two employees were sat together at a computer screen.

In the leak he threatened: “If I see you do it again, you’re f****** gone. And if anyone in this crew does it, that’s it – and you too and you too.

“And you, don’t you ever f****** do it again.”

During the rant, Cruise appeared to claim a lot of responsibility for the wellbeing of staff and continuing production, as he said: “They’re back in Hollywood making movies right now because of us.

“We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf***ers.”

“I’m on the phone with every f***ing studio at night, insurance companies, producers and they’re looking at us and using us to make their movies,” he shouted. “That’s it. No apologies. You can tell it to the people that are losing their f***ing homes because our industry is shut down.”

He continued: “It’s not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education. That’s what I sleep with every night – the future of this f***ing industry.

“Do you understand what I want? Do you understand the responsibility that you have?”

The film had already gone under many delays due to coronavirus, including production halting after twelve people tested positive on set in Italy.

Mission: Impossible 7 is due to be released in November 2021.