J.J. Abrams ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ Resumes Production, ‘Challenger’ Documentary Airs on Netflix

By JENNIKA INGRAM | Reporter

If the pandemic originally slowed down Palisadian J.J. Abrams, it appears that he is back on track with a full schedule.

The producer recently launched “Challenger: The Final Flight” on Netflix, and “Mission: Impossible 7” resumed production in Norway.

Abrams (“Star Wars,” “Star Trek”) is an executive producer on the four-part “Challenger” Netflix documentary that premiered on September 16.

The docuseries revisits the 1976 Challenger space shuttle, which broke apart 73 seconds after launching while millions of television viewers were watching live at the time, including many school children. Seven crew members on board died.

The story aims to focus on the positive, commemorating the lives of those lost and emphasizing the diversity of the crew assembled by NASA.

The series includes conversations with surviving family members, and creates a “relatable and touching” portrait of the astronauts and its civilian passenger, Christa McAuliffe, the first high school teacher to head to space.

It will also air rare archival footage on mistakes that led to this disaster, including sharing pre-launch safety concerns voiced by NASA engineers.

Steven Leckart and Daniel Junge direct and produce the series, with Abrams, Ben Stephenson, Rachel Rusch Rich, Sean Stuart and Glen Zipper executive producing.

Another Abrams project, “Mission: Impossible 7,” is back in production after being on hold for nearly seven months due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The long-running franchise that released its first picture in 1996 features Tom Cruise playing Ethan Hunt, a senior field operations agent.

Director Christopher McQuarrie shared a picture on Instagram earlier this month presumed to be a set up for one of Cruise’s renowned stunts.

The picture shows daunting heights with a lone figure on a ledge of scaffolding and a vast mountain range in the background with the caption: “Action…#MI7 Day 1.”

It’s been rumored that Cruise paid a “half a million pounds to hire cruise ships to house the production crew in Norway and keep them safe during the shoot,” according to Sky News.

The film is anticipated for release in November 2021.