Only Cruise Could Go to China

ACTOR TOM CRUISE FILMS IN SHANGHAI WITHOUT "NEGATIVE IMPLICATIONS."


People's Daily Online reports that Tom Cruise finished two weeks of filming in Shanghai for Mission Impossible III:

Shanghai's Jinmao Tower, the country's tallest building, and the city's futuristic Oriental Pearl TV Tower, will both be featured in the movie, with Cruise's breathtaking performances on them.

The film will become the first mainstream Hollywood blockbuster to shoot in China without any negative implications, according to director J.J. Abrams.

Cruise gushed about the China's spectacular vistas, culture and friendliness, saying he planned to come back in the future to see more of the country.

"It's spectacular. It's unbelievable," he said. "It's going to look extraordinary on film."

Cruise and his crew wrapped up two weeks of shooting for "Mission Impossible III" in China. It is said that the movie's producers are negotiating to simultaneously release "M:I3" in the United States and China next summer.

Tom Cruise won his fame in China mainly through the two previous "Mission Impossible" movies and last year's "War of the Worlds".

Finally, something the U.S. can export that the PRC can't duplicate: Tom Cruise! I wonder what "negative implications" J.J. Abrams mentioned leaving out of the film?

Piracy concerns aside, the movie's producers know that even if Mission Impossible III is pirated by millions even before the film opens in China, citizens will still flock to theaters for a positive depiction of their country in a U.S. film—particularly if it involves Cruise motorcycle-skydiving off the Pearl tower or some other Mission Impossible-worthy stunt.