The government has announced that major Hollywood stars, including Tom Cruise, will be exempt from quarantine regulations as part of its drive to get film production in the UK back up and running.

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden announced the move, which will cover sporting events such as the British Grand Prix as well as production on films such as Mission Impossible 7, to allow key personnel to travel to the UK without having to quarantine for 14 days on arrival. Dowden’s statement said that “any such individuals will be required to remain for 14 days within a ‘bubble’ that includes only their place of accommodation and production location”.

Dowden said he had spoken to Cruise about Mission Impossible 7 and 8, on which back-to-back production had been due to restart in September after being halted in February.

Dowden added: “We want the industry to bounce back and exempting small numbers of essential cast and crew from quarantine is part of our continued commitment to getting cameras rolling safely again.”

Productions caught up in the film industry shutdown include The Batman, Fantastic Beasts 3, and the Netflix series The Witcher.

Ben Roberts, chief executive of the British Film Institute, welcomed the news, saying: “Film and television are worth £9.9bn to the UK economy and being able to get production back up and running as quickly as possible is going to help our industry and its 77,000 production workers contribute to the UK’s economic recovery.”

According to Adrian Wootton, chief executive of the British Film Commission, outside productions were worth over £3bn in 2019, and said: “The immensely welcome news is also a clear recognition of the importance of the film and high-end TV inward investment sector to the UK’s economy.”

The announcement follows the publication of guidelines designed to enable the safe resumption of film and TV production, which include rules on physical distancing, safety training and temperature tests.