Film producer files lawsuit against Tom Cruise over Polish bridge

In March 2020, the first news appeared saying that the historic bridge in Pilchowice could have been blown up for the purpose of a scene in the seventh part of the "Mission: Impossible" series, with Tom Cruise in the lead role. At the time, the company responsible for the bridge, PKP PLK, denied the news about the demolition. The topic, however, kept on returning. The chairman of a company which was to be involved in the film shoot in Poland told "Fakty" TVN: "The bridge is rusting, the tracks are not being used. Everything seems to point that renovating of this railway is economically unjustified".

His words were echoed by the then deputy minister of culture and national heritage Paweł Lewandowski, who told Wirtualna Polska: "I wouldn't fixate on it (the bridge) being a heritage site. Not all old things are antiques". This, however, did not discourage the defenders of the bridge. Thousands signed a petition to save the over-century-old construction, and the The Polish TICCIH Committee (Polish Committee of The International Committee For The Conservation Of The Industrial Heritage) got involved as well.

The film's director Christopher McQuarrie told the "Empire" magazine that no one involved in the movie production had asked for permission to blow up a historic bridge in Poland. In his view, it were the Poles who offered a non-functioning bridge for this scene.

The case was finally closed when the bridge was listed in the Registry of Objects of Cultural Heritage. According to experts, the bridge is characteristic due to "a high level of construction craftsmanship". As its prime value, they mentioned its authenticity, that it's been preserved very much in original form. According to the preservation office, protection of the bridge is in public best interest.

A few months later, the case of the bridge returned to the spotlight. All because of Andrew Eksner who announced in social media he has filed a lawsuit against Hollywood producers. He expects to be paid for the work he had done for the movie. Among the sued there are Paramount Pictures, the movie's director, as well as the "Mission Impossible" star Tom Cruise.

Spokesperson for Warsaw Regional Court in Warsaw Sylwia Urbańska confirmed the lawsuit has been filed. "The plaintiff demanded 6 million zlotys from the defendants as compensation for actions the plaintiff had undertaken as part of a movie production".

Eksner also posted a written statement on Twitter: "My name is Andrew Eksner. In November 2019 I was hired by the Mission Impossible 7 production to find a unique location for them. They were looking for an old railway bridge they could blow up for the final scene of their movie. They had unsuccessfully searched everywhere in the world for over a year".

According to Eksner, that the production suddenly decided to quit cooperation with him, and to hire someone else. The man says he will file further two lawsuits and reveal "all the juicy details". "My name has been dragged through the mud and I haven't even received any compensation for finding the most important location of the movie for them" - Eksner said.